I still remember my first October School. I have written of it in my Medium piece. I remember how exciting it all was. Now, I look back and realise I was the victim of mind control.
The October School is the IMT’s flagship event, held every October in order to celebrate the October Revolution (which actually happened in November according to the Western calendar, but never mind that small technicality). It takes place in London and is hosted by the British section, but when I attended it I knew that comrades from around the world were fond of attending. In addition to this, it was the responsibility of every branch to bring as many ‘contacts’ (potential members) to the event as possible. There, they would be surrounded by true-believers (milieu control) and be completely under the influence of the organisation. We would sit, row by row, in stage-managed ‘meetings’ at which the party line would be put forward by the speaker on whatever topic was under discussion. Another ‘comrade’ would chair the meeting, taking questions and contributions from the audience. These ‘contributions’ usually came from ‘comrades’, who had pre-prepared statements written down and which always affirmed the party line. We were encouraged by the higher-ups to do precisely this. This created the false impression of an organisation totally united behind a particular position, which further impressed the impressionable contacts we were hoping to win over. Often, other far-left sectarians would attempt to infiltrate our meetings and cause disruption, and it was the responsibility of the chairs to shut them down and ensure the smooth running of the event.
‘Contacts’, like myself, would be love-bombed. They would be given lots of attention and flattery, and praised for their enthusiasm and erudition. They would be encouraged to get involved and work to ‘build the organisation’. Many (but not all) contacts would join, then be burnt out and leave after a short time, and the pattern would repeat itself year after year. This brilliant article from the Weekly Worker puts this phenomenon of a ‘revolving door’ into perspective. Many of the people there do not realise that the same nonsense trotted out at these talks has been repeated for decade after decade, and a new generation of people will be recruited, used and abused, then dumped for the next bunch. The organisation now claims 1000 in Britain and claimed 600 at the most recent event from the last couple of weeks. What that means is around 500 ‘comrades’ attended and maybe 50-100 ‘contacts’, many of whom will not join, were present. This is a pretty pathetic showing after 30 years of non-stop activism, and most of them people will leave within a few years. Sharp splits and sudden changes are on the horizon…