I am over 70 and a lifelong independent socialist . Long ago I despaired of sectarian Left parties. I am familiar with the degeneration of the SWP . The Socialist Equality Party is also a cult organization . The loyal members can be compared to " Clears " in the Church of Scientology.
I commend your blog here for being so instructive and brutally honest. I do want to listen to " conservative " voices. Did not Trotsky say somewhere that " the truth is an orphan" ?
To be sure, no party has a patent on the IDEA of socialism. And History blesses no " vanguard party ".
Dan Jelski introduces his blog
My name is Dan Jelski. I am a retired Professor of Chemistry from SUNY New Paltz. Since I retired I have chosen to blog under my own name rather than a pseudonym.
My interest in Trotskyist politics dates from my membership in the Young Socialist Alliance (YSA) and Socialist Workers Party (SWP) from 1969 until about 1977. My politics have since changed. In 1976 I voted for the SWP presidential ticket (Peter Camejo & Willie Mae Reid). In 1980 I voted for Jesse Jackson, then running as a 3rd party candidate. And in 1984 I cast the best vote I ever cast--I voted for Ronald Reagan. And I've never looked back since.
My interest in Trotskyist politics dates from my membership in the Young Socialist Alliance (YSA) and Socialist Workers Party (SWP) from 1969 until about 1977. My politics have since changed. In 1976 I voted for the SWP presidential ticket (Peter Camejo & Willie Mae Reid). In 1980 I voted for Jesse Jackson, then running as a 3rd party candidate. And in 1984 I cast the best vote I ever cast--I voted for Ronald Reagan. And I've never looked back since.
Well, I guess I have looked back. I've always followed the SWP's newspaper, The Militant. and in the mid 90s I hosted a blog (then called an "e-zine") called The Anti-Militant. That was posted at the long since defunct site, Geocities, and was on-line for maybe a couple of years. Unfortunately, I don't believe I have an archive of those articles, some of which were actually pretty good. I briefly resurrected the Anti-Militant, but nothing really came of it. It wasn't strictly about Trotskyism.
So now comes the third try. While this blog is mostly about Trotskyism, my interest is now broader than just the SWP. I comment on split-offs from the SWP, Socialist Action, Socialist Viewpoint, and Solidarity. Many of the people in these latter organizations were my comrades back in the 70s. I will also try to cover the Worker's World group, arguably the most successful Trotskyist organization in the US. But they split from the SWP before I joined, so I have no personal contact with them.
Organizations and bloggers that I choose to cover explicitly are listed in This Blog's Beat.
Beyond Trotskyism, I will occasionally comment on politics writ large, along with other issues such as economics, evolution, science as an institution, and religion. I frequently review books I've read, on a wide variety of subjects. Indeed, the book reviews are among the more popular posts.
Organizations and bloggers that I choose to cover explicitly are listed in This Blog's Beat.
Beyond Trotskyism, I will occasionally comment on politics writ large, along with other issues such as economics, evolution, science as an institution, and religion. I frequently review books I've read, on a wide variety of subjects. Indeed, the book reviews are among the more popular posts.