Not too familiar with Colin either, I will say though there are those with settler marxist tendencies that will condemn PatSocs for being a little too obvious. CPUSA officially condemned them while still having many of the same problems that stem from the same sources.

I think it also reflects the fact that Hamas has made it so some kind of theoretical support for decolonization is a litmus test for any self respecting leftist, even the magacoms have to at least pretend to be pro-Palestine now. This theoretical support often fails to be applied to home in America though, most obviously with the ACP (thus condemnations from even the less advanced among us)

Fair. I mean “academic” Marxism in general is lol. In my mind supporting this Purity Fetish book is helping build an ugly picture but I’d have to see as well.

Not to say he’s ontologically wrong, just that his class conciousness seems more generally aligned with the settler communist/labor zionist which makes sense for his material conditions. Mostly talking about this event he held plus other collabs he’s done with MWM like promoting this book (I’d assume which would require at least somewhat agreeing with its critiques)

I am referring to that quote and I think referring to decolonial theory as anti-marxist is strange and aligns with the common settler conception of attempts to move beyond some of the eurocentric biases in the Marxist tradition. By decolonial theory I think of Fanon and in the current day the EFF (among many others) that are only anti-marxist in that they don’t believe Marx came up with dialectical materialism/communism and just applied it and described it from a eurocentric perspective (and of course, how could he do anything but?)

That doesn’t mean their contributions aren’t respected or especially that dialectical materialism is thrown away but rather is an effort to transcend dogmatism and Marxist orthodoxy, rethinking conceptions of modernity/development, the linear progression of modes of production, and applying marxism (dialectical materialism) particularly to the colonial states and the conditions they face.

All that said, my investigation is thin. I have seen good interviews and Marxist analysis by Rockhill, but I have also seen this problem in many white/settler communists and generally am unsurprised when I hear one is unable to tell that MWM are actually just American labor zionists. I’m also unsurprised when they condemn decolonial critiques of western strains of marxist thought and the settler class. But for sure he should’ve known better than to collab for them and recommending this book is hella sus

Damn, I didn’t know Rockhill endorsed it. He’s been giving some PatSoc vibes from what I know of him. I know he’s worked with MWM before claiming he “didn’t know they were PatSocs” when he got backlash as recent as 2024 iirc. I also read the intro he wrote for post-mortem release (which he edited) of Losurdo’s “Western Marxism: How It Was Born, How It Died, and How It Can Be Reborn” where he denounces decolonial Marxism as a western deviation of Marxism.

I haven’t read the full book but it put a sour taste in my mouth, like Fanon’s real life struggle alone is worth more than anything Rockhill’s done and certainly not western. Feels like there’s just a genre of books written by settlers trying to explain the failures of western Marxism without acknowledging the material reasons why it’s only ever worked in the colonized and hyper-exploited world.

It is clearly not and goes against them continually.

Actions speak louder than words.

It is not identity reductionist and you are dismissing the arguments of other BIPOC members with the CPUSA.

No, I disagree with you. I gave my reasoning, you told me you were latina like it was relevant. This is dismissing the BIPOC arguments I am linking, by refusing to engage with them.

We promote the Communist Party of Israel because they are largely Palestinian and Arab as well as other minorities.

You said nothing of labor zionism’s awful and literally genocidal history and tokenized the few arab zionists in the party for legitimacy, what fun.

It doesn’t matter; it’s not about “being radical enough,” which is unscientific, it’s about what’s materially correct. Also, we never doxxed anyone, but you all doxxed several people and threatened to dox a friend of mine. Your accusations are contradicted by multiple members within the CPUSA.

Youre right it’s not about being radical enough. I am not in the Red Calrion and acknowledge their issues. I disagree on many things with Rick. Doesnt change that he was doxxed while in the CPUSA, by a at the time CPUSA member, who later split from the CPUSA because they were perceived black nationalists. Complicated contradictions among settlers in Amerika.

Don’t trust Reddit communists or get your communist philosophical outlook from Reddit.

My point was that theyre a very low bar I havent been on reddit in years

This is contradicted by the experience of places like Bolivia (which I was in while it was getting coup’d by the fascists in 2019) and South Africa

Bolivia’s current “socialist” president (now kicked out of the party) has police attacking organized indigenous workers and peasantry in an attempt to prevent indigenous Evo Morales from coming back to power. And where is South Africa right now? Apartheid functionally still in place just less obvious, many disaffected with the larger settler population in the SACP joined and formed the EFF. This decolonial communist politic is where the radical communist movement in South Africa is right now, and is something we desperately need to build in America. Lwazi Lushaba’s lectures on youtube are something I recommend and covers some of this history.

FDR didn’t expand whiteness and technically the civil rights movement heightened during his tenure as President and he included many Black and non-white peoples within the government, which was a big move toward de-segregation.

He campaigned greatly for Irish Americans and integrated Catholicism into whiteness, this is where white skin tone fully took over as the indicator for whiteness and preferencial economic treatment. And fuck the idea that the civil rights gains were gracefully given by the colonizers, those were due to militant action and untenable circumstances that the ruling class saw it in their best interest to remove formal segregation. This white supremacist does not get credit for doing something in his class interest. It’s not often it’s the first book I recommend, but read Settlers.

Learn the other side of the story.

CPUSA has had 105 years to show any kind of usefulness or revolutionary politic and has nothing to show for it besides running tail for and funneling resources to the greatest evil the world has ever seen. I have done my research, read their platforms articles and books, I have talked to the organizers, I have seen all the excuses. It’s just a dead end.

A few things

We liquidated because they were flaunting party line and were breaking DemCent.

Because the party line is just an appendage to the fascist democrats

I am Latina and a member of the CPUSA and have seen no racism against non-whites.

Identity reductionist, many non-white people have said otherwise you need to lay an actual argument about upholding revolutionary indigenous and black led praxis with affected people in power which is not happening in the CPUSA. Also latina is a settler identity, and CPUSA is a settler org, so not that you’d be in a place to see this kind of racism when latinidad is a huge perpetuator of it.

In addition, the org was in multiple protests and actions, including calling for a ceasefire officially in many city councils, I’m which we had part in, and even calling forn the divestment from apartheid Israel.

Yet they consistently promote the communist party of Israel which had a direct hand in carrying out the Nakba and condemn Hamas, advocate for a two state solution, so as to make every instance of toothless “anti-zionist” words and phrases meaningless. This stems from their own circumstances as settlers and bleeds into their theory of conditions in the USA (Rejecting settler colonialism as the principle contradiction)

You also cite an anti-CPUSA blog who don’t use their real names, and yet have worked with people who have threatened to dox, and have doxxed, other members within the Austin club, including someone I love deeply.

You should understand why they don’t use their names. And fair, they did doxx Rickdabuffalo, an indigenous communist that left the CPUSA because his life was being threatened for pointing out the anti-indigenity in Chicanismo and had his work stolen without credit. Still sees CPUSA as a harmful settler org that upholds fascism above any effective communist praxis, and the group that was kicked out as being largely white and not radical enough.

Since there is no proof that Black and Native people are pushed out, you should not go about spreading lies.

Mf Harry Haywood got kicked out in the fucking 50s even redditor communists know this shit happens. You don’t get anywhere denying reality and propping up white people you just consolidate white conciousness in your settler org that all natives and black ppl that disagree are just “wreckers” or whatever while propping up the few other individuals to tokenize when criticized.

Because of the class position of settler proletarians, they side with the settler bouigeoise to maintain their class in times of degrading conditions. They have to fight their class interest to be revolutionary and to side with the vast majority oppressed peoples of the world. CPUSA is a settler org with settler conciousness, explaining its long history of acting in tendem with settler labor movements which have always been at the expense of the greater and true proletariat. Decolonial communism is the only way forward here, in south africa, in palestine, in bolivia, and anywhere else these settler condition arises.

During the new deal, when FDR expanded whiteness to include the Irish and Scottish and promised to make America great again on the backs of the losers of WW1 and the rest of the colonized population, the CPUSA supported him because it did good by their membership. This project, this new world order, breathed life into America as it was dying as to keep it going all the way into today, with unfathomable amounts of lives sacrificed so Americans could live lives far above the standard of the rest of the world.

This is the conciousness of the CPUSA, the project they wish to perpetuate, what they mean when they look to organize and improve the conditions the American proletariat and what they mean when they oppose the republicans exclusionary racism in favor of the democrats. Integrationist racism is just the more rational form of sustaining the empire and the conditions our settler class is predicated on.

(we aren’t against Black nationalism and, technically, don’t have a real official opinion on it, though one person ran with that talking-point against us)

I dont mean to be rude but if your org liquidates more advanced cadre for beliving in black nationalism and “following the black panther program” because they were handing out groceries it might be against black nationalism. Important not to obfuscate this when it could hardly be called a safe space for non-white people in light of these circumstances.

Even then, their coverage of the 2024 elections was quite critical of the Dems. Very critical. At times, giving credit for certain Dems for their proposed policies, at times lambasting them for their right-wing policies.

And yet again Palestine and the whole bad cop good cop routine that the two parties play in tandem with each other obfuscated is reduced to mere policy. If PFLP (the Marxist vanguard of the Palestinian cause) is telling me to boycott the election, I will, and yet CPUSA with much more to gain from the democrats white supremacist policies are saying otherwise, it’s merely because they fail to meet the correct line due to their material conditions in interest of settler colonialism and imperialism.

I really don’t think an organization headed by some of the most privileged people on planet should be leading any cause that seeks to liberate the population their class position is entirely predicated on. If somehow they stopped functioning as controlled opposition and gained power they’d be no less fascist and colonialist than the democrats or the republicans.

I know you’re used to being “dog-piled” on but you are lying about one of the most obvious cases of a captured white-chauvinist communist organization, saying the black and native people and settlers sympathetic to them that are pushed out and liquidated are wrong based on empty words and half-truths. It’s barely different than advocating for the ACP.

Essentially I believe PSL is not the vanguard because leadership and cadre are largely not proletarian. I don’t believe the settler population ought to be twiddling their thumbs, but they need to be led by the proletarian vanguard and PSL is largely led by fellow labor aristocracy and petite bourgeoisie.

I spoke vaguely of orgs because many are localized and focus on their specific communities because they simply do not have mass appeal under settler colonialism. The Black Panthers studied Juche for good reason as they were made up of the community they were trying to liberate. These orgs like Chunka Luta Network are housing and organizing the proletariat, having an active impact in their communities that PSL cannot say the same for.

The “left” in America has problems gaining traction for material reasons. To me it says a lot that this “left” we’re referring to when it comes to PSL is not rooted in the communities its saying they are the vanguard of. I can think of a few orgs that are focused on protecting and aiding sensitive hyper exploited communities that have cut ties with PSL over anti-blackness, misogyny, and anti-indigineity (I am not listing them because of the orgs opsec but for my own, as they are local to me). These orgs and communities don’t need a labor aristocracy to guide them on action, they’re already doing more effective work even among the less theoretically advanced populace due to their material conditions.

There are settlers in these organizations, but they are guided by those with that material interest in liberation. What strikes me as particularly “labor zionist” about PSL is that they say they’re speaking for people that have their own organizations, have their own communities, that they are not a part of and don’t want them involved in. The theoretically objective analysis of material conditions is used to put the leadership above the people and disconnected from the actual struggling masses, of which the leadership should actively be a part of and not simply “speaking for”.

I mean, I’m pretty sure theres a ton of empire challenging parties that are beyond help and arent worth advocating for. Trotskyist parties obviously. A big lesson people have been learning recently in the CPUSA is that trying to change the org from the inside just has not been working. The complete declawing of the anti-zionist DSA proposal shows that the right will assume power whenever something radical comes along. I’d argue both organizations are controlled resistance simply through the futility in engaging in liberalism and settler politics, CIA inflitration or not.

You could say the same thing about the green party as well. Hell, theyre not even self described socialist, following the party as a guide towards anti-imperial work leads you to doing electoralism without any kind of dual power building or smashing tentacles of imperialism beyond toothless protests.

PSL is largely funded by a few people who have a large say in the party, there’s a tendency to burnout, abuse of power, a distinct lack of dual power building, transperancy, and settler cadre and policies to the extent that some native orgs (The Red Nation) see them a lost cause and do not work with them.

Where does that leave us? What’s the point of condemning, to say that these parties aren’t worth engaging in? In my opinion, “Something else” is a good enough answer. Native ML orgs exist that are doing the community organizing, education, and dual power building that really matters. Black defense groups and mutual aid orgs, hell anarchists feeding their communities and engaging in materially anti-imperialist actions are doing more than our American brand of protests or electoralism could ever bring.

Lastly, who are we organizing? Are we radicalizing, connecting, and orchestrating actions among the actual proletariat of America and its imperialist tentacles? (non-citizens, indigenous, racialized hyper-exploited populations) Or are we organizing the white labor aristocracy, petite bourgeoise, or otherwise settler population and arming them with marxist rhetoric and calling them the vanguard of the hyper exploited?

The fact is, this is America. In America, as long as imperialism produces a labor aristocracy, as long as coputulating to whiteness is in the material interest to the vast majority of this population, the revolution is not coming with just organizing, and certainly not in parties or power structures overwhelming controlled by settlers. The material conditions need to be created. The guide to action is cutting the tentacles of imperialism, building dual power to help the hyper exploited before and after the revolution, and bringing our number one export, suffering, home.

If PSL would rather care about the election of all things more than people feeling unsafe in their org, that’s on them. I see the entire effort put towards getting them on the ballot to be fruitless and a waste of cadre time and money, and the wrecker allegations happen no matter what day the SA cases get brought up. Why do so many of you online sound like democrats upset you’re not getting the marxist vote you’re apparently owed, despite the fact there’s literally nothing to gain but a symbolic number go up?

I’m sorry if I sound mad but Marxists should know that this election and this party does not matter as much as having the frank discussion and self-crit on what has happened in the PSL and what good can come from being in the org. What worries me is that not a single response has been “They recognized power abuse in the organization and addressed it and try and prevent it from happening in the future” but instead sweeping it under the rug, handwaving the issue, or saying that these many people were simply lying. If there’s anything the election should be it should be an advertisement for the party and its policies, and the reactions to this post is capitalizing on that to say that even just asking if the party is an unsafe place for women and other vulnerable groups you are a “wrecker”, it’s a bad look for PSL and the Marxism-Leninism they claim to follow.

This is how you get people to see through your party and NOT want to vote for them. Bourgeois democracy is literally not ever that serious, it is a symbolic protest vote and matters so SO much less than SA allegations true or not. Calling someone who wants to make sure they aren’t supporting SA protectors a “wrecker” (again, whether the allegations are true or not and there are certainly true ones) is a misogynist reaction to real concerns that only shows that women are unsafe in the PSL. One more vote for Claudia is not worth that.

To be fair, PSL isn’t a monolith, and the US is filled with misogynists and horrible men in general. Awful that people in power in the org covered it up, even for a single branch it should be all that we’re against. Here’s a mega link with criticisms and accounts of SA

Will note I disagree with a good portion of the public criticisms section as some are Maoist/Trotskyist takes but the first hand accounts here are worth listening to. I think a big problem here is the lack of transperancy and purposefully hindered communication (cadre in branches are told not to talk to each other except through leadership) and overall too much centralization without the democratic part. Considering the anti-indigenity found in their socialist reconstruction program as well as by other indigenous groups interactions with them (I would suggest reading the Red Nation link in the drive), you could also tie this in with their settler politics as a whole.

I will also note the organization has a history of calling people who disagree with their line or mention the cases of SA as “adventurists” “wreckers” or the like. This is where the danger steps in, PSL is a deeply imperfect org and even an org as revolutionary and worthy of praise and support as the black panthers should and would take SA seriously.

Honestly, does it matter? It simply wouldn’t of occurred without US imperialism, and was used as a pretext for the continuation of the circumstances that caused it. Bush is to blame whether he knew it was gonna happen or not.

I guess my main point is a western made video that seems to think china abandoned 5 year plans and believes conspiracies like Xi actually has a ton of secret financial assets, as well as not properly historically contextualizing the reform and opening up but opting for the ideological purism that Roland describes that westerners tend to have re:china I don’t think offers much expert insight beyond peddling some myths and “viewing china with western eyes” as roland says. Deng def made rightist mistakes and hurt class struggle on the global front (Vietnam and such) but the reform and opening up era was certainly a good move for China and kept them on the road to socialism, a step made necessary by their “chinese characteristics” and not really comparable to Khrushchev’s declaration of the end of class struggle

I really suggest "Socialism With Chinese Characteristics a Guide for Foreigners " on this, the author was the first non-chinese employee at the school for marxism and knows Chinese and has read marx and lenin in their original languages and has a wide knowledge of Chinese socialism. Goes over a lot of the myths this guy seems to be falling for, namely the idea that Deng abandoned class struggle and purposefully took the capitalist road, ruining the project forever. Paired with its historical materialist analysis of China and deep knowledge of party history it offers so much more than any westerner that’s never been to China could offer. I have yet to learn the opinion of maoists in the third world (something that I’d like to learn a lot more about ) but this video was pretty ahistorical and western brained tbh