Leftards

Ahhh...so good to be back at York U. Gonna write a lot during the election, but here's a blog on a topic that has been bothering me for years now...

Being an activist I've taken part in so many political demonstrations, activist meetings and movements. Over the years, solidifying my Leftward politics, I've met enough far, far Left groups at these demos and I still cant help but laugh at the dynamics they bring. At the same time I find them so frustrating and counter-productive it gets depressing.

Now, what I am referring to is those small, uber-Left-wing Socialist groups that protest on the streets, give out their newspapers and have a load of opinions (coupled with almost nil social skills). Often these groups are formed of a few individuals, rather than being an actual movement. The people believe in extremely narrow, stringent, almost religiously obeyed views, some calling themselves Trotskyist, Marxist, Marxist-Leninist, Revolutionary Socialists, etc. etc. Now, I'm on the Far Left of what is considered politics (at least in Canada), I mean, I'm in the NDP, but I am also on the far left-wing spectrum of the party, but even I gotta laugh at these guys, which I shall now dub Leftards.

I remember one time my buddy and I were at a demo and a member of a small group called 1917 sold us a paper. We were then followed by someone from an Internationalist Socialist group who was trying to pursuade us to buy his paper instead, denouncing 1917 for making an attack on them in their paper. So, these groups more or less spend more time fighting one another than the capitalists or the powers that be.






I remember a few months ago I was helping out a group, just volunteering and learning, that is a Left-leaning force within the NDP and during our small conference two other groups, 1917 and Spartacist showed up, trying to discredit the group and one another. They'd get into fights over their 'particular' brand of socialism. One guy came up to me, started talkign at me, showing me this thick binded book he'd written on how to make a revolution and overthrow capitalism, giving exact steps to do so, criticizing those who would deviate slightly from HIS perscribed formula. Now, is it just me or with many of these groups is it more about their individual egos than really helping people?

The worst of these groups is Spartacist. If you are ever in a demo or any other political action and Spartacist members approach you, I'd recommend you ignore them. They wrote an article I read once trying to justify groups like NAMBLA (North American Man Boy Love Association), thus justifying child molestation, citing rules like the age of consent being bourgeouis morals imposed on the proletariat. Ok...they are nuts. So yeah, they dont realize how much they are in actuality hurting the Left.

I remember a while back I was at sit-in at York University during the strike. I was mentioning the NDP and my involvement in it, when some of the students present (only a few) started bashing the NDP for not 'being Left enough', since the NDP's brand of social democracy simpy wasn't enough for them...turns out more people there supported the NDP afterall, but it was ironic because in the end of the strike the NDP was one of the few mainstream voices defending the union.

Sure, you can criticize those on the Left who are in the NDP instead of one of these tiny useless pseudo quasi-religious Leftard groups...but at the end of the day, at least we are actually doing something positive in the lives of working people, rather than just sitting and talking about it in our tiny little clubs.

Socialism, and Left-wing politics in general, is meant to be about people uniting and working together no matter our differences to achieve a better standard of living for all, not breaking off and fighting one another over tiny things like the wording of our ideal, or the exact methods of achieving change. These tiny groups will always be a laugh and will be unproductive in every way but turning people away from radical politics and new ideas.

To the Far, Far Left-Wing splinter group members...grow up, get over yourself and join the rest of us struggling for real change!