The Party Trap

 

As a frequent lurker on lefty webspaces, I see variations of the same ten questions pop up time and time again. One of those questions concerns joining a political party. A recent example of this question I saw was by someone describing themselves as an Anarchist and wondering whether they should join the French Communist Party (PCF) youth wing as their friends were members. If you're familiar at all with the PCF, the answer a resounding no or "non", but I have seen this question asked over a dozen times with the positions and party's replaced with other options. I don't want to miss the forest for the trees. Leaving aside the shady history of the PCF for a moment, I think this points to a broader, general issue.

The purpose of any political party youth organisation is to encourage and shape young members and prepare them for service to the mother party. That doesn't necessarily mean that every action and interaction will be a propaganda lesson, but most of your time will be spent in service of that broader aim. Political parties come in different shapes, sizes, and even stripes, but that is the core which they all share, the party is the main if not only organisation capable of carrying out its stated mission, if the party members did not believe that they would not have founded it in the first place.

I think the question is an easy one to answer once you've established some basic facts and broke it down:

1. Question 1: Do you believe in the party's ideology and agree with its strategy and activity? Yes/No
2. If No, then do not join, it will be a dispiriting experience.
3. If Yes, then before you sign up check how this party treats its membership and long-term supporters, does it have a reputation for exploitation, bullying and harassment? Yes/No
4. If Yes, steer well clear, it isn't worth the sacrifice.
5. If No, check that if there are other groups offering what the party is offering in your area. Yes/No
6. If Yes, go back to question 3 for each potential competitor.
7. If No, final decision time.

That's all there is to it. Political party's regardless of ideology and peculiarities of strategy and structure will demand a lot of you, it's not to be taken lightly and joining one you disagree with from the beginning is a terrible idea. Some have this notion of effecting change from within, but that just shows how inexperienced they are with bureaucracy and factions. Entire groups numbering in the thousands have practised what's called entryism for the specific purpose of changing a party to agree with them, and it just doesn't work out well for them.   

One other point, if your friends are in a political party, but you are not on board with that party, then joining up is the last thing you should do. If your friends are really your friends they will respect your differences and if you join you're at risk of merging your social life with your political life, this will only make it harder to leave and often creates leverage for exploitation of you. 

I know this because it happened to me. I joined the Labour Party through its youth wing because there was no one else in my area and my friends were members. It was a waste of my time and emotional energy, I won't say everything was terrible, I had some pleasant experiences and met some people who are still dear to me, but I also wasted my time helping horrible people climb the ladder of political posts, was forced to waste valuable time socialising with people I couldn't stand and effectively found my ability to act in a way authentic to my views on humanity and the world. And since much of my social life revolved around the party, it made breaking with it a drawn out and messy process. The Labour Party is many things, but it isn't the Worker's Party of Korea, my opposition to it and final leaving did not lead to a public humiliation campaign or time in a rehabilitation centre, the pressures to remain quiet and compliant were purely psychological and social, and they were still a hard chain to break, and I know of people in that party and other groups who never manage to break free. This is also why I stress to checking if the party (or any group really) has a reputation for extra controlling and behaviour, because even in the "free democratic world" even tiny political groups are capable of shocking levels of abuse of their own memberships.

If there is a positive spin on that time is that the first-hand experience has left me completely immune to overtures by the competition, I had no interest in Corbynmania or the constellation of Trot/comms that float around seemingly only to sap the enthusiasm out of graduates and Trade Union reps. 

One further note, many of the replies to this question on the internet egg these people on, beware counsel from strangers (yes, that includes me). One thing to keep an eye out for is people saying "Just do it" in the name of praxis and left unity, or similar terms. Personally, I'm quite sceptical of these for their own sake, but in this particular case anyone using them is exposing themselves as liars and gobshites. I make an effort not to see people in the worst possible light and try to give the benefit of the doubt where possible, but in this case there simply is no alternative reading, these people are not your friends and are clueless about the realities of practical political action and its effects. 

These terms are simply irrelevant to this discussion when applied correctly, joining and supporting an organisation opposed to your views is literally the opposite of praxis, I know the word literally is overused but here it is apt. Praxis is theory through action, so if you are not onboard with the party's theory which includes its ideological position and strategy then by definition working for that party is the opposite of praxis. An actual example of praxis is Earth Liberation Front (ELF), ELF is broadly speaking an ecological defence group heavily committed to a strategy of direct action and disruption of the extractive industry. An ELF supporter is doing praxis when they "monkeywrench" a truck belonging to a logging company, or assist in that action, that same ELF supporter is not doing "ELF praxis" when they vote for the Green party in the local elections. We could have a discussion or argument about whether that's still a good or effective thing for the ELFer to do, but that is separate from praxis as a concept.

And there is no unity amongst the "Left" in this scenario. Left unity if it means anything more than empty air is when multiple different groups work together for a common goal, an example would be France in 1968 when multiple groups came together to support the waves of factory and student occupations, they were very different in their views (Situationists, Anarchists, New Left groups, autonomists, even dissident members of the PCF) and their participation differed but, in general they worked to support and promote the actions of the workers and students. When you join a political party, however, there is no collaboration, you are committing yourself to the party line and stating you are in agreement with it. If you are not in fact in agreement with it, then you will be convinced you are wrong or expelled. Another good example of this is the turmoil in France in 1968, the PCF leadership opposed the occupations and worked to end them, members of the PCF who disagreed with this either gave into party discipline or were kicked out.

What about all the alternatives, the revolutionary factory cells, internationalist networks, militant Unions, people's armies, direct action affinity circles etc. I'd say use the same criteria laid out above, if you don't agree do not join them, and also try not to merge your social and political life into a closed circle, overlap is fine, but total merging is a bad idea. I have been a member of the Industrial Workers of the World for some time now, we have our ups and downs but at this point It's still an organisation I can work with and is willing to work with me. Sometimes people have reached out to me asking if they should join, my responses always include recommending that they meet with an actual branch or contact someone in their industry or region first and get to know them and what the IWW model is really like before making that commitment. While this is a personal piece, it is not a "copy me" and support the groups I like instead of the groups I do not like.

And if after giving the matter some thought you do find that you agree with the PCF or Labour or any other organisation, then fair enough, I wish you well. Your time is precious, and you do matter, I know first-hand how frustrating and isolating it can be, but don't waste your time and energy working for others who are opposed to your values and view you as a resource to exhaust. You'll get your fill of that in the workplace. Be patient and persevere, resist shortcuts, keep learning and thinking, and you will find a way to make an impact. Your day will come.