Dear Assemblians,It has been my honour to serve as the head admin of The Leftist Assembly’s social Discord server since April 2017. This was a time of disunity and division that almost poisoned our region in its infancy. However, we persevered and rebuilt after that time, and created a welcoming space for all leftists and those interested in our ideals.
Since our founding, we have taken pride in being a pan-leftist region open to those from every leftist tendency to express their views in an accepting and collaborative environment. This noble aim is something I felt quite sure we had achieved in our region for a long time.
That is, until recently. Sincerely reflecting on the state of our community, there have been persistent red flags that I have pushed to the side for a long time. In doing so, I have failed in my duties to preserve this most central of tenets underpinning our existence as a community.
Currently, we face a silent but no less threatening moment of disunity and division in our region. An increasingly vocal minority has sought to belittle those with different perspectives and construct a narrative that their worldview is superior to others and the ultimate goal of any ‘good’ leftist. This is toxic, and each word to this effect slowly unravels the fragile fibre of our community.
In particular, this is a group of individuals identifying as Marxist-Leninists who have increasingly abandoned any pretence of being ‘pan-leftists’. Pan-leftism is a two-way street – democratic socialists like myself have long done their part in being tolerant of and open to views that we may not agree with, but this relationship has not been reciprocated by a sizeable number of individuals who relish in the idea of us being good-for-nothing ‘liberals’.
The responsible individuals know who they are – and they extend from the Discord administration team to regular members of the region. The culture they have promoted is entrenched throughout the Discord community that serves as the basis for most of our citizen engagement. Unfortunately, these people do not understand that the cause of anti-capitalism wins nothing when intellectual superiority becomes the tool of choice.
For years, I have known of many individuals who have reduced their involvement in The Leftist Assembly or left the region entirely as the direct or partial result of these members. Almost none have ever spoken up about this for fear of reprisal, but I have been in this community for long enough that I feel obligated to air my personal frustrations. I know several members of this minority will be overcome with joy at the news of me stepping aside – as they have been for others – but it will not stop me from calling out their subtle acts of vile behaviour.
For this reason, I cannot continue in good faith as the head admin of The Leftist Assembly’s social Discord server. This action I see as ultimately invoking the sentiment Atealia shared when they left this region several years ago – I dually acknowledge that there are systemic issues and that I cannot be the person to lead the change needed to address them.
To those who may accuse of me being ‘sectarian’ for bringing this up at all: ignoring this issue does nothing but legitimise the actions of this minority. This is an issue that exclusively pertains to some, but by no means all Marxist-Leninists in our region – and we achieve nothing when we do not acknowledge the problem sincerely.
To all those involved in our Discord server, I challenge you to call out the actions of those who share your views when they intentionally seek to deride other leftists for not agreeing with them. Change will not happen until you have the guts to go against the grain.
At this time, I am reconsidering my future involvement in the region, and have passed ownership of The Leftist Assembly’s social Discord server to Kavagrad.
There’s a little three-word motto I believe some people should have a hard think about.
Unity in diversity,
Llorens
Former Secretary and former head admin of TLA’s Discord server
