I made a post a while back lambasting dialectical materialism as a set of banalities and absurdities which had nothing profound to teach us. I just realised that I failed to mention one of the most fascinating inanities of them all. In our sect, we were fond of saying that ‘Dialectics involves looking at the … Read more
Back in 2013, some dissidents within the International Socialist Organisation (ISO) founded the Renewal Faction, aimed at democratising the organisation. This post reveals what happened when they had the temerity to face up to the leadership. I do not wish to rehash all the details on here. People are free to read the whole post … Read more
The defunct International Socialist Organisation (ISO) in America was notorious for being among the most cult-like of all the Trotskyist sects. The horror stories I have heard about it are certainly worse than anything I experienced in the IMT. Here is one former member’s experience: Liane Aronchick went to her first I.S.O. meeting in late … Read more
All Trotskyist sects boast of their democratic credentials. But is this really true? Let us examine two case studies from two individuals within Militant who tried to register their differences. Let us look at Dennis Tourish’s experiences in Militant in 1983-5: Most people who have disagreements with the CWI leadership walk away, figuring that the … Read more
Marxists have no sense of realism. Though Marx called his opponents ‘utopian socialists’, he himself was a tremendous utopian. Where he differed was his belief that moral persuasion would not be enough to bring about socialism – it required large-scale socio-economic and political transformation. It is unclear whether such a notion is much more realistic … Read more
When I first joined in the organisation, I was not a Trotskyist. I was a libertarian socialist inspired by Nietzsche as much as Marx. Over the next several months, I would be brainwashed into ditching Nietzsche as ‘reactionary’ and embracing Trotskyism as gospel. Marx, Engels, Lenin, Trotsky, Ted Grant and Alan Woods held all the … Read more
The renowned English Marxist historian and activist, E.P. Thompson, was no fan of Trotskyism. That might be one explanation for the fact that there is hardly any mention of him on the website of the International Marxist Tendency (I am not sure about other Trotskyist sects). When I was in the cult, only Marx, Engels, … Read more
From beginning to end, my time in the organisation involved being told lie after lie after lie. These people will tell any amount of lies, no matter how preposterous, in order to advance their organisation. Cults do not have any regard for the truth. Had I known these truths, I would never have joined the … Read more
Until recently, I dismissed the idea that the IMT practiced hypnosis on me. It may have been bad, but it wasn’t that bad. Until, that is, I read Jon Atack’s book Opening Minds in which he discusses what hypnosis is. Contrary to popular belief, hypnotic states are not induced only under special circumstances. The truth … Read more
Months after leaving the International Marxist Tendency, I discovered the work of Roger Scruton – or rather, rediscovered it. Scruton, who died in January 2020, had been an old hero of mine from when I had thought of myself as a conservative. After his death, I felt a tinge of sadness, suppressed because of my … Read more