Participant at IRTR: "I'm [], does this prevent me from 'getting into' MIM or true Maoist organizations?"
mim3@mim.org replies:
That's well put. Just for the record, MIM does not recruit in IRTR. RCP=CIA is much more active recruiting there than MIM is. So the comrade is right to ask about "true Maoist organizations."
IRTR is a lesson of sorts that comes up in the international communist movements again and again. When the struggle is going well, the enemy infiltrates by flying your flag. Lately the RCP=CIA has copied many aspects of MIM's tactics, including some free distribution of papers and use of the Internet that they used to scorn. It also noticeably takes up topics that MIM does in its discussions. That's not to mention it started calling itself "Maoist" and has Lotta using MIM-style approaches to historical materialism. On IRTR, the RCP=CIA flies the MIM flag to subvert it-- and this is a universal lesson for the struggle internationally.
At the moment because of concrete problems that have arisen and because of the general practice of recruiting being summed up for inside u.$. borders, MIM is seeking to see new cells arise, ones that uphold our cardinal principles but use their own heads to get around problems of repression or to stay free from repression. Via Internet that means boning up on what an IP address is, how not to download nasty software etc. The challenges along those lines keep growing, so we need to keep growing technologically too.
We are also finding a benefit in terms of the internal logic of struggle for our cell strategy. It's hard for anyone to claim MIM is holding up their cell when we struggle with them. Their cell is going to go forward as they want, including on the millions of lesser issues that come up. So this frees MIM's hands to struggle for the correct line without people confusing that with "orders" or discipline, before they know what that is, another big problem we have here in the imperialist countries.
So RCP=CIA is more active recruiting at IRTR than MIM and most of the participants are actually state agents. Yet IRTR still "works" and has more concentrated discussion of the MIM line than anywhere else. By this we mean that there are people of capability there who can function in a cell structure fine and they can manage to put up the MIM line for contemplation. Realistically, that is how we operate in the imperialist countries because we are both outnumbered and dominated by the bourgeois superstructure.
As long as people are not silly about it, they can get something out of IRTR. At the same time, if one goes to IRTR at another level it would be wrong. Organizational questions should depend on level of practical commitment. So, we should learn to distinguish between the concrete questions of here and now as they manifest to the individual and as how they can be discussed online. This is true all over the Internet. For questions that manifest to you as an individual, you should never "trust" someone just for having the right line or even carrying a MIM Notes around. You need to require action, evidence of commitment other than talk. Once we understand this point, we are well on our way to understanding why there is democratic-centralism and not just debate societies. Any state agent can join a debate society, spy and spread rumors, if we have a low level of security-mindedness and thus a low level of incipient democratic centralism. Start to raise requirements practically and a lot of these spies (along with sincere petty-bourgeoisie) will start to drop out and discredit themselves.
Now, for some people looking at IRTR it would be very, very difficult to see the state's side of things. It's almost too much training all at once. Not to worry about it too, too much--that's OK as long as comrades persevere in improving their security struggle. Maybe right now they do not understand what is going on in IRTR either ideologically or security-wise, but over the long haul it may be a good experience.
We could say "hoist the red flag yourself," but we find that few latch onto that metaphor. So what we mean is don't wait for recognition from central somewhere. Start organizing and then look to these other organizations for struggle over line. Start doing something and then continuously worry about what you are saying and doing, the substance. MIM has managed to set up some struggle over that. We are not in a position yet to hand you a cell-phone and walk you through the Matrix the way Morpheus did in "The Matrix" when he first contacted Neo.