The last several months have been a period of discovery. I have delved deep into Dostoevsky, I am now discovering the magic of Thomas Hardy, and I am probing the wisdom of George Eliot. I am acquiring the rudiments of a literary education. In the sphere of music, I am working my way through the … Read more
Being in the IMT was a miserable experience. But there is much I have learned from it. If there is anything I have learned from reading philosophy, it is amor fati – the love of fate, a concept taught by the Ancient Stoics and also by modern philosophers like Friedrich Nietzsche. It is hard to … Read more
In a new low for the IMT, they have just republished some articles by a man named Jacques Baud, a former Swiss army officer and intelligence expert turned conspiracy theorist and Kremlin asset. According to his Wikipedia page, this loon has appeared on far-right conspiracist channels like the French-language Russia Today and the far-right YouTube … Read more
I am celebrating two years of freedom from the International Marxist Tendency today. I cannot quite believe that it has already been that long since I deserted this malicious enterprise that I so naively attached myself to as a confused undergraduate just four years ago. I am glad to be out of there, and when … Read more
As part of the process of leaving Trotskyism behind, I have had to unlearn a lot. It began with a few small steps of questioning, to the full-blown collapse of my faith in the space of less than two months. Something that all cults or religious fundamentalisms have in common is a set of dogmas … Read more
The Social World of the IMT There is no real love or friendship or brotherhood in a cult. Since leaving, I have tasked myself with rebuilding whatever sense of community I had outside the organisation. When I was a member of Socialist Appeal, it was ridiculously easy to make friends and acquaintances. We were all … Read more
When the leadership of the International Marxist Tendency was confronted with my doubts in February 2020, I was recommended to read two texts to win me back to the ‘correct position’ – Marcel Liebman’s Leninism Under Lenin and Victor Serge’s Year One of the Russian Revolution. I was told that if I still had differences … Read more
Bullying is a central feature of cults. I am taken back to my rather unhappy days in high school when I think of the horrific abuse I suffered from my peers in the organisation. I am recovering from this evil experience, but I doubt I will ever forget it. I still vividly remember how my … Read more
Anyone under the illusion that the International Marxist Tendency, or any other Trot cult, encourages open and honest democratic debate, should prepare to have their illusions punctured. When I joined the organisation, I was assured that it was a place where disagreement and dissent was welcomed. It was not long before I found out that … Read more
The average contact It might occur to people reading that the only people who would join an organisation like the IMT, or a cult of any kind, is someone who is stupid or crazy. I can tell you from my own experience that nothing could be farther from the truth. It requires a certain level … Read more