I may look into a more local org then. There’s a base building org in the city near me. I’d have to commute to the city to do anything with them, and my labor aristocratic background might make it hard for me to fit in, but I’m already deep in autistic burnout and only just now dealing with my egg cracking. I fear the extra stress would break me before any the skills or connections have a chance to stick.

also FRSO denies settler colonialism and is anti-Indigenous, PSL has better political lines by far. FRSO is has the same problem as PSL with ingrained leadership having too much unilateral sway over the party, but with much less to show for it

but the PSL has adapted measures and systems to get better at handling the issues you mentioned

https://substack.com/home/post/p-217286207

They simply have not. I was on leadership for my branch, I’ve talked with members of the Central Committee (as of September of '26). The NDC is comprised of members of the central committee, especially and including Satya who in that account is very openly and brazenly dismissive of the actual research on what is best for survivors of sexual assault.

The problems don’t begin and end with poor management of assault leading to victims falling to the wayside and victimizers often remaining in leadership; this is due to an internal structural issue of the central aspect of democratic centralism having way too much sway. There is not meaningful democracy internally to the parry, and it has an extremely corrosive effect on even being able to accomplish anything. Its part of why the party had been so static and mechanical the past year, its a tendency which has gotten much worse due to an outright lack of trust in membership (horrifyingly) after new masses of people joined in late '24.

and they have a restorative justice approach outside of the carceral system to deal with issues like that

Before the national crisis, this was invoked when I wanted an investigation by my own victimizer. I thought she was at least not fit to be leading others, as she had used her leadership position to abuse me and my trust, as well as sexually abuse another comrade.

Restorative justice for me meant that my victimizer had her place restored before she even lost it on leadership because she was literally too valuable. I was told that, literally, we were both too valuable so we had to keep working together; lo and behold I burn out from having to keep around her even as a comrade.

Also, they are a huge org, and shitty people are going join and do shitty stuff until they get kicked out. Which they do, they get kicked out.

How many times did Chris Banks simply get moved to another branch before his current “suspension” in Atlanta.

Honestly, honest to god, before my experiences I thought people were just being difficult assholes when they had shit to say about the party because they were too focused on an anarchist way of doing things. And I do think that’s true in many cases, the vast majority of critiques of the PSL can come down to a lack of understanding of what is required at this moment and wishmaking that something better ought to exist (but there isn’t and nobody has made one yet).

But I don’t think it’s safe, nor do I think it’s going to go anywhere meaningful anymore. The jig is up, branches have exploded, recruitment is going to be shot by a single article being sent their way, and honestly something new needs to be built. The Beckers have guaranteed that now is the time of monsters, because what was the shining hope of socialism in the U.S. is now effectively a zombie.

There isn’t a good solution now, simply put things need to be rebuilt outside the PSL; and that will take time. Shit sucks but let’s not kid ourselves that the PSL is where it’s at anymore