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I'm 24, and I've been a member of a few orgs, and I've spoken with many more.
None of the parties I've talked with (with the exception of PCUSA and APL) have any serious focus on education. PCUSA has a relationship with caleb maupin so I'm not gonna touch that, and APL is kinda hard to get ahold of. I did interview with them a couple years ago, but I was rejected and told to read more theory which tbh, was true I did need to read more theory, but also doesn't inspire confidence that they can actually build up their party.
CPUSA is in bed with the democrats, PSL seems to officially hold no stance on stalin or trotsky which is just...weird, FRSO spent a week trying to convince me to get a job at UPS so I could work with the teamsters (which is valid but I wasn't interested) and then just never talked with me again. Talked with CWPUSA recently which is a newish party, required I already be involved in a mass movement. Fair enough, I just don't meet those requirements.
I'm starting to feel a bit hopeless about it all. When I was in DSA & CPUSA, I atleast had friends that I could talk about things with, now it feels like I'm entirely alone. I've only been at this a few years but it feels like decades. Nothings been accomplished, I'm still a midwit when it comes to theory, and I don't feel like I can trust myself let alone other people at this point to figure out the correct course of action.
Silver lining, I did find a few publications I like through this process. Red Phoenix(APL), New Worker(CWPUSA) and Red Clarion(unaffiliated but many are former cpusa members). They are all consistently good and I might end up purchasing a subscription to help with them at some point, but idk, its definitely not enough.
I think I'm the loudest person on this instance in terms of saying "Trotsky should have been assassinated sooner, or else left in a dungeon to rot at the outset of his expulsion" and I just want to offer that not having an official position on Stalin/Trotsky in the year of our lord 2024 should not be a dealbreaker for a party that you think otherwise holds up. Being trot? Fine, fuck 'em. But just abstaining? That's really not such a horrendous thing even if I do disagree with it.
I can understand the aversion to Trots but PSL is pretty consistently anti-imperialist so I don't see what the issue would be with them not expliticly denouncing Trotsky? It'd be a different story if they parroted State Department propaganda.
PSL seems to officially hold no stance on stalin or trotsky which is just...weird
this is not serious posting
I think it is okay for PSL to not have a loud position on Trotsky. They are actually an offshoot of Trotskyist party splits of splits of splits adopting a "AES projects are real and should be defended" line, which contradicts the most toxic aspect of Anglo Trotskyism. The thing to criticize is the extent to which they retain other holdovers from Trotskyism, which I won't list out but are something to think on critically (and productively!) if you join.
It's also okay to be a commie in DSA if you can handle the constant liberalism around you. You can recruit and educate more commies using it. The Red Star caucus does this to an extent. But it really only works if you have a high tolerance for liberalism and can have 2+ people in that caucus in your local chapter.
There are also often local orgs of commies that all got sick of the same things you are. They all have different names but they will often be in coalitions that are appealing to commies. Anti-imperialist work or mutual aid work, for example.
There's never gonna be a perfect ready made socialist party for you to join. Pick one and do your best to make it and the world better. What specific organization you're with is way way less important than the fact that you're organized somehow.