I’m probably the worst person to talk about this, given Bakunin influenced my political view by a lot, but I think even this tendency can be explained by the role of the vanguard. Something like this:
Trotskyists — you need someone to lead people
Stalinists, Dengists, Maoists, etc. — yup, you need someone to lead people
Anarchists — nope, don’t bring this shit here, it’ll become a new tool for oppression
I’m oversimplifying it, I know. [And to be frank it has been a long time since I read either theory or history regarding communism.] But note how this creates a situation where Trotskyists end siding with other Marxist-Leninists, but always trying to “pull” that vanguard to a different direction than the rest, creating internal disputes in that vanguard and claims we’re trying to fuck everything up.
interesting! i guess that makes a lot of sense why Trotskyists would gravitate to more authoritarian models than their own rather than coalition building with less authoritarian models. i trend towards focusing more on what groups are doing and how they’re helping and worrying less about who’s in charge (and have even observed that groups survive longer if there’s no one person in charge). thank you for the perspective on group dynamics!
I’m probably the worst person to talk about this, given Bakunin influenced my political view by a lot, but I think even this tendency can be explained by the role of the vanguard. Something like this:
I’m oversimplifying it, I know. [And to be frank it has been a long time since I read either theory or history regarding communism.] But note how this creates a situation where Trotskyists end siding with other Marxist-Leninists, but always trying to “pull” that vanguard to a different direction than the rest, creating internal disputes in that vanguard and claims we’re trying to fuck everything up.
interesting! i guess that makes a lot of sense why Trotskyists would gravitate to more authoritarian models than their own rather than coalition building with less authoritarian models. i trend towards focusing more on what groups are doing and how they’re helping and worrying less about who’s in charge (and have even observed that groups survive longer if there’s no one person in charge). thank you for the perspective on group dynamics!