On Thu, Jan 8, 2026 at 10:50 AM, Charles wrote: > > Gandall mis-reads everything. The distinction between an ideological > leader, Sunkara, and the rank and file activists of DSA is an ABC of left > politics. He lies that if one scorns the former, one scorns the latter.
I don’t see any such divide. Sunkara identifies with Marxism and used to actively participate on Doug Henwood’s LBO list and the late Michael Perelman's Pen-L list before he went on to found Jacobin. Mamdani is close to Sunkara and has written for Jacobin. If they they do not meet Charle’s narrow definition of Marxism or have moved away from it, the worst that can be said of them and other DSA leaders is that they are ideologivally aligned rather than in conflict with the prevailing left refomist consciousness of the base. Least of all have I read or heard anything to suggest the ranks share Charles’ scornful dismissal of Sunkara and presumably other prominent DSA figures as “hacks”, not even from avowed communists such as those affiliated with the Red Star, Marxist Unity, and Communist caucuses who have serious differences with the DSA leadership over the focus on electoral politics and the timing of a break with the Democrats. I would have greater respect for Charles’ very confident opinions if he walked the walk and joined one of these groups to test his views in practice rather than spending his time on marxmail angrily venting at those he deems " anti-communists, social democrats, and Trotskyites ”. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#40098): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/40098 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/117115628/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/13617172/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
