Nothing is so dangerous for the proletariat, especially in the present situation, as the sugared poison of false hopes. Nothing increases the insolence of the fascists so much as ‘flabby pacificism’ on the part of the workers’ organizations. Nothing so destroys the confidence of the middle classes in the working-class as temporizing, passivity, and the absence of the will to struggle.

— Leon Trotsky, The Workers’ Militia and Its Opponents (1934) [via]

It is the duty of revolutionists to defend every conquest of the working class even though it may be distorted by the pressure of hostile forces. Those who cannot defend old positions will never conquer new ones.

— Leon Trotsky, “Balance Sheet of the Finnish Events”, April 25, 1940 [via]

One of the major disagreements I had with Troskyists (and oh did we have a lot) was whether old positions are worth defending. Sometimes they aren’t, and I think it seriously weakens your position as a radical to bend over backwards defending, you know, the Soviet Union. Not everything the working class does is good, either. They are not a privileged and infallible class. You grow as a person and as a movement by abandoning positions that were poorly thought out or unsuccessful, and pushing forward with new ideas and methods.

Huzzah, It’s The Top 10 Trotskyist Pickup Lines!

10 “Hey sweet thang, wanna dictate my proletariat?”
9 “My revolutionary Party has a huge, militant membership - wanna lesson in Entryism?”
8 “Is your father a commisar of production and distribution? Because he surely expropriated some bourgeois diamonds for your eyes”
7 “Do you believe in love at first sight? Or do you need to be broken of your false consciousness by the vanguard since without us you’re only capable of trade union consciousness?”
6 “Hey baby, If I said you had a peasantry capable of being led by a tiny working class would you hold it against me?”
5 “Wanna see my bra? It’s a size (Provisional)CC”
4 “Trotsky was all for women’s lib, you know… have you heard of Nadezhda Krupskaya?”
3 “Is that a deflected permanent revolution in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me?”
2 “Like my hairstyle? I’ve done it up like a pimp…”
1 “Are you a girl? Please will you talk to me. I promise not to mention Trotsky

— Bunty commenting on What in the hell … :: … is the best lightbulb joke? :: February :: 2008 - StumbleUpon [via]