[Marxism] Galloway faction splits from Respect:

[Alan Bradley]

From: Louis Proyect 
> What are you talking about? It is of some interest
> that the British SWP's satellite in Australia has
> the same kind of complaints about you that other
> left groups have about the British SWP and Respect.
> It is all a function of Zinovievist maneuvering of
> the sort that the Trotskyist movement has refined
> to an art, like those poker-playing dogs.

You are quite correct here. Those complaints are part
of the art.

If you can't win democratically, squeal about how
unfair the other side is being. Throw enough mud and
some will stick.

This method is based on such abuses having actually
occurred in the past, leading to an acceptance that
they are likely in the present. That acceptance is
easier is you dislike and mistrust the group in
question.

In some ways, whether or not such abuses actually
exist is irrelevant. 

While the DSP has been scrupulous and conscientious
with respect to its interactions with the SA, there
have been cases where there have been polarised votes,
where consensus did not exist. In such situations,
those who hold minority views inevitably feel
aggrieved. Then, of course, there are the inevitable
"we're only human" mistakes.

The SWP seems to have been a little more heavy-handed,
but similar processes would have ensured grievances
existed regardless of this.

So grievances/abuses are, at one level, inevitable. On
the other hand, there are real factors which tend to
lead to them being exaggerated. Sour grapes and
sectarian suspicions are a perfect fuel for blowing
things out of proportion.

Actual malpractice only makes things worse. It needs
to be addressed, obviously, but I don't think it is
quite as big a part of the problem as it is often
protrayed.

In many ways, the sectarian game is more a problem
with the relationships between the grouplets, rather
than with the grouplets themselves. That's why it is
impossible to unilaterally disconnect yourself from
it. The best organisation in the world would find
itself smeared with the same mud as everyone else.

The answer is not to kick the dogs, to but change the
rules of the game.

Alan B

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