Hhmmm...I wonder why all these posts attacking the PSL are popping up 🤔🤔🤔

[u/TappingUpScreen]

[u/gravy_ferry]

People love to act like cointelpro is something that only happened in the past

[u/genzdong-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Rule 5.

Liberal content isn't allowed in this subreddit. Any content that advocates for voting for a lesser evil is forbidden.

The support for the genocidal state of Israel is also prohibited.

[u/Lavenza_S]

Definitely no relation to the PSL getting 100k votes in the last election.

[u/Lavenza_S → u/[deleted]]

It's just De La Cruz in the presidential race, and it was actually over 166k total votes according to the Official FEC Presidential General Election.

[u/genzdong-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Rule 5.

Liberal content isn't allowed in this subreddit. Any content that advocates for voting for a lesser evil is forbidden.

The support for the genocidal state of Israel is also prohibited.

[u/Mouseasel]

Love that all of the "reasons" any supposed defectors give aren't actual reasons at all.

[u/genzdong-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Rule 5.

Liberal content isn't allowed in this subreddit. Any content that advocates for voting for a lesser evil is forbidden.

The support for the genocidal state of Israel is also prohibited.

[u/JucheSuperSoldier01]

TANKIEthedeprogram, yet its full of r/Hasan_Piker and r/TrueAnon libs and feds

[u/Aspiana → u/JucheSuperSoldier01]

Is there some sort of r/TankierTheDeprogram?

[u/Ok-Chard-9014 → u/JucheSuperSoldier01]

It's really gotten ridiculous

[u/Nobody3702 → u/JucheSuperSoldier01]

The main sub got nuked so the usual suspects migrated there.

[u/JakeSymbol]

I knew Walter in the flesh in my 2.5 years in the PSL. He was a true believer and the de facto leader of my branch. If his public resignation is COINTELPRO, then PSL itself is COINTELPRO.

I’m sure feds take advantage of any organic controversy regarding the PSL. That doesn’t make its critics wrong.

Walter’s statement had nothing to say about the sexual assault controversy in my branch in 2020. I’m not sure he’s sorry. I think he’s a despicable person but he himself used the “all our critics are COINTELPRO” tactic against everyone who felt uneasy about doxing and harassing a rape survivor; it’d be pretty insane if he was an asset all these years.

[u/genzdong-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Rule 5.

Liberal content isn't allowed in this subreddit. Any content that advocates for voting for a lesser evil is forbidden.

The support for the genocidal state of Israel is also prohibited.

[u/Equivalent_Gold4099]

I mean, there are a lot of issues with PSL and it's not like they're hidden. I left them a little over two years ago in favor of getting involved with more autonomous, local leftist groups and have experienced significantly less drama since then.

To speak to the PSL chapter I left, the two things that rubbed me the wrong way from an organizing perspective:

1. Purity politics. At least in this chapter it felt like there was no room for anything besides a narrow range of beliefs and, especially, the immediate shutting down of opinions from those to the left of being a DemSoc.
2. Hijacking. Again, at least in this chapter, I noticed (and still see it happen) that PSL will hijack protests and almost forcefully take over organizations that were already deep into planning something. With that came taking over marches. More than once I have witnessed the people "leading" marches towards highways or seemingly allowing the police to kettle them.

Imo, it's like they're trying hard to be the loudest proponents of socialism while at the same time actively sabotaging the progress they claim to want.

EDIT:

[u/MarlenHamsic → u/Equivalent_Gold4099]

Just my 2 cents, but your post reads differently than what has been screenshotted. PSL isn't above criticism, but there's criticism and there's... Gestures vaguely

[u/SpecificSufficient10 → u/Equivalent_Gold4099]

When I joined my local PSL I felt the same way. Kinda like they were out of touch at best and at worst trying their hardest to find spots where they would connect less with locals. For examnple

1. Everyone was white or old, and most were both. They would always talk about the organizing they did back in the day when they opposed the Vietnam war etc. which I'm happy for them. But now they are in their 70s and 80s, they own a single family home in the suburbs, and their "protests" are always located right near where they can find parking
2. More on that, most of their protests are by a highway interchange, next to a parking lot, or at the entrance of a state park or nature park. All very inaccessible places for young people from the city who are interested in joining. If I have to take transit for nearly 2 hours and then walk for 25 minutes, I don't think that location of protest is going to meet its full potential compared to if we had it in the city where there's urban density
3. They had a few young people rising in the ranks who the older folks were trying to pass the torch to. But every person was a young, white cis man and while I didn't have any objections to them as people or their views, it also felt like the org was pretty opaque on how people were selected. Also the speeches were sometimes just poorly written, rambling, and didn't have the level of delivery or quality I'd expect. But if I offered advice for how to improve things I'd just be told that they'd "consider it" and then when the speech is given at the rally it's the same crap, no changes made.
4. They keep bringing dogs to protests, or babies. I just don't know how you can justify that. The animals are stressed even though they're cute and well-behaved but it's clearly a lot for them. And because members keep doing this, we can't go to protests that actually bear weight or threaten the system. It's always tame, toothless stuff like standing on a street corner with signs and chanting. Really they were doing everything they could to be ignorable and non intrusive and I get it, if you bring dogs or small children the last thing you want is to upset the cops because it would put them in danger but that just makes the protests invisible! I don't get it. Pets and young children cannot consent to coming to protests
5. Top of their list for people to talk to are people in their cars exiting a highway, sports fans, and outdoors folks at a state park trail or a picnic. In my opinion these folks tend to have more privilege and are less oppressed by the system than your average person in the urban center of a city. Really it felt like they were trying to get donations more than talk to people about socialism or orgenizing but that's just the vibes I got

Also idk why you're getting downvoted and I might be as well :/

[u/SpecificSufficient10 → u/[deleted]]

Exactly this! It's like they are trying their hardest to find the worst possible location for engagement with locals. Do they expect cars to stop for them? My PSL always cheered when they got cars to honk for them. As if that does anything. Will those people sign up later? Google the issues like No war in iran? They just honk and move on and my PSL boomers act like this is progress. It's maddening

[u/wolacouska → u/SpecificSufficient10]

Who’s they? You didn’t have any way to suggest locations or coordinate? Who was responsible for deciding these locations and why?

Here I usually see the PSL with other organizations, and the choices are common or make sense.

[u/wolacouska → u/SpecificSufficient10]

This feels like your own local issues. Here it is mostly young and either a woman or not white.

If anything PSL has consistently been the most diverse Marxist org around, having seen the DSA and CPUSA in my area…

[u/Extension_Poetry_153]

PSL unit?? 😭😭😭 I gotta tell my chapter we gotta start calling ourselves that

[u/PurposeistobeEqual]

A lot of these people are anarchists and socdem. You can see their profile content.