All cults have a special vocabulary to cut off members from the outside world. Trotskyist cults use bizarre words and phrases to control the thinking patterns of their members. My experience in the International Marxist Tendency (IMT) involved precisely this sort of thing.
‘Comrade’ – a member of the organisation, ‘one of us’. Creates warm sense of belonging to an exclusive group.
‘Contact’ – a potential member of the organisation.
‘Intervention’ – broad term used to describe a variety of different actions. It can be used to describe speaking up at one of the cult’s public meetings, almost always in a manner that affirms the line. It is also used to describe attending events for the purposes of propaganda and recruitment – protests, Labour Party meetings, trade union meetings, etc. These ‘interventions’ are tightly controlled by the group to ensure discipline and a common message.
‘Cadre’ – the ideal of a revolutionary. A cadre is someone who has fully internalised the doctrine and knows it well enough to be able to train up newer members and explain it to people who aren’t even members. A cadre is expected to be able to act independently and show initiative, but also be a model of obedience and discipline. If that sounds contradictory, that’s because it is.
‘Full-timer’ – a full-time employee for the organisation, who often (but not always) sits on the Central Committee and is regarded as one of the ‘leading comrades’. Often they will be in charge of the affairs of a particular region of the country, or a particular aspect of the organisation’s activity. They are associated with self-discipline, dedication and self-sacrifice. They are usually paid a pittance, and spend all their time writing articles for the paper and the website and attending meetings to discuss the ‘work’. Often they even live together. All of this constitutes what the cult expert, Lifton, described as ‘milieu control’. With all the time and energy they are spending on the organisation, they have no space to think critically. They are seen as ‘model comrades’ who are looked up to by the rank-and-file, having absorbed the doctrine more thoroughly than the average member. They tend to be promoted for their conformism and loyalty to the leadership. They are tasked with monitoring the membership for heresy and deviations from the correct line. They are often arrogant and dismissive of any criticism of the group’s doctrine from any member. Many are power-hungry sadists who genuinely enjoy bossing people around and making their lives hell. Others are perfectly normal people who simply become corrupted by power, and being made to feel that they are the most intelligent people on the face of the planet. Any one of them could be the next Lenin or the next Trotsky. The future of the revolution falls on their shoulders…
‘Lead-off’ – a lecture given by a member of the organisation over a particular aspect of Marxist theory, whether at a branch meeting or a public event. They are always a reflection of the organisation’s line.
‘The Centre’ – the headquarters of the sect. Also a metonym used to refer to the leadership, who are associated with a unique wisdom and insight
‘The Organisation’ – A term used by the sect to refer to their groupuscule. Often uttered in reverent tones of devotion and loyalty. Younger members call it ‘the org’. Also known as ‘our Tendency’, ‘the Marxists’, etc.
‘Fighting Fund’ – the group’s treasury.
‘Subs’ – subscription payments by members.
‘Branch’ – lowest cell of Trotskyist organisations, organised geographically. Every week they hold branch meetings, which is where important decisions are made.
‘Socials’ – social events held by the cult, which are useful for fund-raising and milieu control. Over pints of alcohol, comrades discuss revolutionary theory and go over the glorious history of the Russian Revolution. Clenched fists and drunken renditions of the Internationale abound. Perfect for inviting and ‘love-bombing’ contacts.
‘Political education’ – the process of indoctrination of new comrades and contacts. It is a misnomer, because genuine education is about getting you to think for yourself, not parrot the cult’s doctrine.
‘Political level’ – How much you have internalised the doctrine. Comrades with a ‘higher’ level have internalised more of the doctrine. These are looked upon positively by the leadership.
‘Bourgeoisie’ – the main enemy in Marxist/Trotskyist parlance. They constitute the ‘ruling class’. Any information that the organisation does not like is slandered as bourgeois propaganda’.
‘Petty-bourgeois’ – originally a term used by Marx to describe the middle classes, but used as a catch-all term by Trotskyist sectarians to slander anyone or anything they disagree with.
‘Eclecticism’ – using a variety of intellectual approaches rather than just a Marxist one. Trot sects do not like this at all.
‘Post-modernism’ – Trotskyist sects use this term so broadly it loses all meaning. Any analysis which deviates from a strict, ‘objectivist’, economist, Marxist interpretation and focuses more on the role of the subjective, the random, the chaotic or the emotions is considered post-modernist and therefore incorrect.
‘Dialectical materialism’ – The philosophy of Marxism, made up of banal cliches and observations dressed up as a profound wisdom.
‘Formalism’ or ‘formal logic’ – a term used to describe the opposite of dialectical materialism.
‘Subjectivism’ – similar meaning to post-modernism.
‘Idealism’ – the opposite of dialectical materialism. According to Marxists, philosophy is one cosmic battle between materialism and idealism. If this sounds like simplistic nonsense, that is because it is. It has a similar meaning to ‘subjectivism’ in the Trotskyist world. Any analysis that stresses the independent role of the ideas, values or anything extra-economic is labelled ‘idealist’, unless of course it is Trotskyists talking about how THEIR ideas are important and vital to the future of humanity.
‘Reformism’ – leftists who want to reform capitalism. A swear word.
‘Sectarian’ – posturing as being extremely left-wing and more virtuous than any other leftist, usually in a way that antagonises the working-class and other leftists and leaves one isolated and without influence. Other Trotskyist groups are described as being ‘sectarian’, but no Trotskyist thinks their own sect is.
‘Opportunist’ – the opposite of sectarian. It means compromising on essential principles to curry favour with reformists and other enemies of the working-class.
‘Centrist’ – two meanings. It can mean ‘liberal’, or it can be used in Trotsky’s sense of the word, to describe an individual, political entity or class that is wavering between reformism and revolutionary socialism. Trotsky believed that the stronger and more capable the forces of revolutionary socialism were, the greater the chance that they would be won over to Marxism.
‘Ultra-left’ – same meaning as sectarian.
‘Entrism’ – entering into bigger left-wing groups to recruit members, or launch an outright takeover. By such means, Trotskyists enjoy a parasitical existence at the expense of larger organisations. Not all Trotskyist sects practice entrism, but the more notable ones do, and thoroughly antagonise everyone in the process.
‘Reactionary’ – anything opposed to the virtuous forces of revolutionary socialism and progress.
‘Defencism’ – when the treacherous reformist swine line up behind their own bourgeoisie during a war in the name of ‘national unity’. Contrasted with ‘revolutionary defencism’, which Lenin pioneered as a way of supporting the genuine desire of Russian workers and peasants to defend their homes from foreign invasion, as distinguished from the cynical aims of the Russian bourgeoisie, who wanted to use war to gain territory and resources.
‘Renegade’ – anyone who deserts the sect or abandons Marxism.
‘Workers’ state’ – any state which nationalises its means of production, and thereby automatically becomes ‘progressive’, even if it is a monstrous totalitarian state run by a Stalin or a Kim Jong-il. Not all Trotskyists agree with the concept – Trotsky split his movement by insisting the USSR counted as one and should be given ‘critical support’ despite Stalin. It is not clear how much of an economy has to be nationalised and under state planning to count as a workers’ state.