Trot Watcher

XIV.“Man seeks for gold in mines, that he may weaveA lasting chain for his own slavery;—In fear and restless care that he may liveHe toils for others, who must ever beThe joyless thralls of like captivity;He murders, for his chiefs delight in ruin;He builds the altar, that its idol’s feeMay be his very blood; he … Read more

We are five years on from my desertion of the International Marxist Tendency (now rechristened as the Revolutionary Communist International). Nonetheless, here I am to tell you why you should desert Trotskyism. If you are a doubting member of any one of the dozens of fissiparous, impotent, hermetic Trotskyist sects existing on the fringes of … Read more

“On my saying, ‘What have I to do with the sacredness of traditions, if I live wholly from within?’ my friend suggested ‘But these impulses may be from below, not from above.’ I replied, ‘They do not seem to me to be such; but if I am the Devil’s child, I will live then from … Read more

And yet, just as our body would burst asunder if the pressure of the atmosphere were removed from it, so would the arrogance of men expand, if not to the point of bursting then to that of the most unbridled folly, indeed madness, if the pressure of want, toil, calamity and frustration were removed from … Read more

A captive greets thee, coming from a house Of bondage, from yon City’s walls set free, A prison where he hath been long immured. Now I am free, enfranchised and at large, May fix my habitation where I will. … Trances of thought and mountings of the mind Come fast upon me: it is shaken … Read more

Raphael Samuel (1934-1996) was part of that extraordinary crop of British Marxist social historians that emerged out of the crumbling world of the Stalinist British Communist Party – among them, E.P. Thompson, Raymond Williams and Eric Hobsbawm. He wrote a series of essays on the ‘lost world’ of British Communism during the 1980s, which were … Read more

As I predicted, the full details of the shenanigans of the Revolutionary Communist International vis-a-vis its Brazil section have been exposed. In the statement I have linked, the former members of the Brazilian section explain how the leadership of the organisation manuevered over the course of many months to undermine the leadership of the section … Read more

In recent days, the Revolutionary Communist International, formerly known as the International Marxist Tendency, has announced a split in the Brazilian section. We are told that the leadership of the organisation deserted the ranks following a long-running dispute over whether China is an imperialist power. As a member more than half a decade ago, I … Read more

Apologists for the October disaster insist that it was the ‘greatest event in human history’. They say this to suggest not merely that it had a greater impact on the world than anything else, but to indicate moral approval. Aside from the fact that it was a catastrophe, there are so many events in human … Read more