[WS:] But I also said that they are not limited to Trot groups - nor did I say that all Trots are inquisitorial. I am speaking of my personal experience here - apparently, it was different than yours. However, I would risk a generalization that radical movements of all colors (left, right, religious, whatever) tend to either attract inquisitorial types or at least give them more opportunities to act. I am not sure why, but my hypothesis is that such movements tend to break the socially established rules of conduct, which creates an opportunity for individuals to act out what they would normally be prohibited from doing in established communities. This is not limited to inquisitorial types, of course, but these types tend to create considerable harm to others, hence they are salient.
A good literary example is the character of Pavel Zemanek in Milan Kundera's novel "The Joke." Zemanek is a Communist party activist who backstabs his friend (the protagonist Ludvik Jahn) over a rather harmless joke (writing a postcard to his girlfriend saying "Optimism is the opium of the people! A healthy atmosphere stinks of stupidity! Long live Trotsky") and consequently ruins his life. Incidentally, Jahn, who his entire life thinks of a revenge for that backstabbing, eventually stoops even lower than his nemesis.
Wojtek
On Tue, Aug 30, 2011 at 11:19 PM, Marv Gandall <marvgand at gmail.com> wrote:
> Wojtek referred to "inquisitorial characters"…
>
> On 2011-08-30, at 1:43 PM, 123hop at comcast.net wrote:
>
>> This was a splinter of a splinter of a splinter, consisting of about two dozen people. A dozen in LA and another dozen in the Bay Area. My ex was involved with them & that's how I got involved. They were mostly from Argentina. They were either part of the fourth international or breaking away from the fourth international. Whenever they talked about their genesis, I would get a headache, and nothing would sink in. I think they were a scion of the Mandel branch.
>>
>> I never said they were "inquisitorial" types. My overall impression was that they were ego-ridden Argentinians who could not create a social milieu in the U.S....and used political activity instead. They seemed to have a deep suspicion and aversion to happiness. The men had pissing contests based on Marxist ideology, and the women cooked.
>>
>> Joanna
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Marv Gandall" <marvgand at gmail.com>
>>
>>
>> Can you each kindly be more specific about which Trotskyist groups you're referring to.
>>
>> I was in two of them in Canada in the late sixties and early seventies - the League for Socialist Action, which was essentially a colony of the US SWP, and then on the political committee of the breakaway Revolutionary Marxist Group, which was sympathetic to the European wing of the Fourth International led by, among others, Ernst Mandel, Tariq Ali, and Alain Krivine. Of course, as in any political current, there were a wide variety of groups, some of which were quite impressive, others terribly deformed. And as in all groups, including this list, there were the usual range of personality types. Perhaps it was a case, as in the general population, of groups looking strange and frightening when viewed from the outside.
>>
>> Certainly, Mandel, Tariq, Krivine (a leader of the 68 student revolt and later a member of the European Parliament) and the great majority of those I met never "depressed" me as being "inquisitorial characters".
>>
>> I broke with the movement for political reasons, but I've never regretted my brief acquaintance with it which honed my political understanding and organizing skills, inspired me, and led to some lasting friendships.
>>
>>
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