Are many of you interested in joining far-left parties?

[Nano Nagle]

They didn't scar me either. Maybe I was just putting too much weight on the book On The Edge- Political Cults Right and Left in which there is a chapter on the SP/CWI. Still I wouldn't advise joining them.

So what did scar you Darren? What's your excuse for your obsession with trots? We all know you are now a dyed in the wool fascist blueshirt.

[Darren J. Prior]

So what did scar you Darren? What's your excuse for your obsession with trots? We all know you are now a dyed in the wool fascist blueshirt.

They didn't scar me at least not permanently! This thread was started 9 months ago and I think you are the first far-left person I have engaged with on this site since! I like to keep engaging with the far-left to be very irregular!

[Darren J. Prior]

Speaking of Marxist parties are the only two representatives of the Anti-Household Charge campaign to the Irish language media members of the SP?

[Nemesiscorporation]

I am thinking namely of the Socialist Party and the Socialist Workers Party/People Before Profit?

There are a couple of linked things to know about these parties.

They are Trotskyite. Their figure-head symbolic leader is Leon Trotsky of the Russian Revolution. So they are Communist really. I think a lot of people know that they are Communist but not specifically Trotskyite, whoever cares. Personally I canvassed for Joe Higgins and the SP around 6 years ago for an election and was in touch with them for a year without knowing they are Trotskyite. They told me they weren't Marxist or one of them did so I presumed they weren't Communist at the time. I decided to canvass for Higgins after having a few beers at home on my own. So I was a bit drunk when I emailed them saying that I would work for them for the the then 04 EE and LE. The demon drink! I am sure that I wouldn't have made the decision if I was sober but I didn't feel strongly either way so the next day I just went with my decision.

The SWP are middle class I think. Middle class students a lot of them are I have heard. The SP Youth Wing Socialist Youth would be mostly full with (middle class) students as well but their general members are working class.

Personally I found a lot of SP members to be scarred psychologically. They come generally from poor backgrounds and I know at least one of their councillors and one of their old candidates come from very large, unusually large actually, families. So they have a lot of problems and a lot of anger or hatred. Joe Higgins can be funny of course but personally I found him to be often nihilistic personally.

So my advice, on my own experience, would not be to have anything to do with the SP and I suspect SWP also. If you are interested make sure you agree with what Leon Trotsky stood for first. I was in college with a fella in the Communist Party. In Ireland they are probably, from my very limited experience, the most harmless communist party there is funnily enough.

I think to join a far-left party is a sign of political immaturity, naiviety or well just innocence really. I never joined the SP but I suppose I just might as well have had. Eckhart Tolle says that our entire world has schizophrenia in the popular sense of the word (if you get me) and Mark Durkan once said that the DUP have or had "political schizophrenia". I think this applies to far-left parties and it took me a few years, although I didn't think about them every day of course, to put clear blue water between me and them and finally get away from their psychotic outlook. I never bought into their psychotic outlook- which I believe what they stand for i.e. Trotskyism to be- but I was effected or rather affected by it for a while. Time heals all wounds though. I took me around five or six years. Now the SP have a branch in my area and Joe Higgins got 50% of all votes in the LE's in Castleknock where I live last year. I just ignore them if I see them. I don't say hello. They are going nowhere and I am away from that psychotic viewpoint now thank God.

Sorry for rambling but I think that it true that dozens of innocent, if only one or two, young people (generally) join far-left parties every year and then get scarred by their experience and often unfortunatly let themsleves become disillusioned which I believe to be a sin (well you get me). As I said though time heals all wounds. I believe that my stint with the SP made me stronger politically. Do any of you have any experience of these parties?

Not any of the present parties.

My reason is, because the Irish parties are only interested in power for the sake of power and they could not care less about the people.

Just my opinion.

[jcdf]

Politics and the parties that make it up seem to have gravitated to the right on economic issues (the social issues are a different matter) in North America and Europe and perhaps elsewhere as well. The right parties have gone from being right wing to far right wing and the left parties and gone to center or middle right.

I am not interested in joining any far left parties. A party would have to be pro-industrial to get any serious interest from me.

Thats rubbish: the reasons why Britain declined industrially in that period was a lack of re-investment by the bosses and successive governments in improving the means of production- the unions had nothing to do with it.

You are both right. The governments failed to re-invest in new industries, which I opposed. However changes needed to be made and having so many people digging coal out of the ground was a non-runner for the future, they had to go. The government should have put retraining programs in place and most importantly heavily encouraged new industries to set up shop in the place of the old. As I recall at the time the British pound was one of the strongest currencies in the world, too strong in fact. They could easily have offered some nice big government grants and low interest loans that would have brought the multinationals running.

while the right wingers would be burning anyone not middle class white and rich from their homes.....

Or hunting them for sport on their grounds like they do today. In multicultural America even the Latinos can get in on the fun.

[Toman13]

I am thinking namely of the Socialist Party and the Socialist Workers Party/People Before Profit?

There are a couple of linked things to know about these parties.

They are Trotskyite. Their figure-head symbolic leader is Leon Trotsky of the Russian Revolution. So they are Communist really. I think a lot of people know that they are Communist but not specifically Trotskyite, whoever cares. Personally I canvassed for Joe Higgins and the SP around 6 years ago for an election and was in touch with them for a year without knowing they are Trotskyite. They told me they weren't Marxist or one of them did so I presumed they weren't Communist at the time. I decided to canvass for Higgins after having a few beers at home on my own. So I was a bit drunk when I emailed them saying that I would work for them for the the then 04 EE and LE. The demon drink! I am sure that I wouldn't have made the decision if I was sober but I didn't feel strongly either way so the next day I just went with my decision.

The SWP are middle class I think. Middle class students a lot of them are I have heard. The SP Youth Wing Socialist Youth would be mostly full with (middle class) students as well but their general members are working class.

Personally I found a lot of SP members to be scarred psychologically. They come generally from poor backgrounds and I know at least one of their councillors and one of their old candidates come from very large, unusually large actually, families. So they have a lot of problems and a lot of anger or hatred. Joe Higgins can be funny of course but personally I found him to be often nihilistic personally.

So my advice, on my own experience, would not be to have anything to do with the SP and I suspect SWP also. If you are interested make sure you agree with what Leon Trotsky stood for first. I was in college with a fella in the Communist Party. In Ireland they are probably, from my very limited experience, the most harmless communist party there is funnily enough.

I think to join a far-left party is a sign of political immaturity, naiviety or well just innocence really. I never joined the SP but I suppose I just might as well have had. Eckhart Tolle says that our entire world has schizophrenia in the popular sense of the word (if you get me) and Mark Durkan once said that the DUP have or had "political schizophrenia". I think this applies to far-left parties and it took me a few years, although I didn't think about them every day of course, to put clear blue water between me and them and finally get away from their psychotic outlook. I never bought into their psychotic outlook- which I believe what they stand for i.e. Trotskyism to be- but I was effected or rather affected by it for a while. Time heals all wounds though. I took me around five or six years. Now the SP have a branch in my area and Joe Higgins got 50% of all votes in the LE's in Castleknock where I live last year. I just ignore them if I see them. I don't say hello. They are going nowhere and I am away from that psychotic viewpoint now thank God.

Sorry for rambling but I think that it true that dozens of innocent, if only one or two, young people (generally) join far-left parties every year and then get scarred by their experience and often unfortunatly let themsleves become disillusioned which I believe to be a sin (well you get me). As I said though time heals all wounds. I believe that my stint with the SP made me stronger politically. Do any of you have any experience of these parties?

I believe that communist/pure socialist economics do not make sense, and seeing as most communists and socialists are socially liberal, that kinda puts the nail in the coffin for me. I do, however, lean a bit to the left in economics, although I am also socially conservative. I'd say that old-school Fianna Fail(without the corruption and shyte) would be the best way to describe myself, although I do believe that a large amount of political reform needs to happen.

[james5001]

I believe that communist economics do not make sense, and seeing as most are socially liberal, that kinda puts the nail in the coffin for me. I do, however, lean a bit to the left in economics, although I am also socially conservative. I'd say that old-school Fianna Fail(without the corruption and shyte) would be the best way to describe myself, although I do believe that a large amount of political reform needs to happen.

You left out socialism.

[Toman13]

You left out socialism.

See edit.