Red Guards Austin – A Year Summation of the Life of a Militant Maoist Organization in the U.S. Central South

Well, as it's currently formulated, your criticism is just about the exact same as what they say are right-opportunist slanders against them. From the article:

Periods of low-level struggle can be just as difficult to navigate and can cause demoralization and feelings of defeat, which if not guarded against can create disunity. All radical organizations face these conditions and we are no different. There is no truth whatsoever to the lie that we “collapsed” due to “ultra-leftism.” These are rumors used by those who know nothing, most usually only to justify their own inactivity or to push their own right-opportunist lines. In reality RGA had managed to push back the suffocating weight of liberal hegemony and fight to employ more militant and diverse tactics and was successful to a degree, where other radical organizations had failed in the same effort. While other rumors are not specifically worth mentioning, we should first clarify a couple of points: First, RGA has not collapsed, disbanded, or quit in any sense of the word. We entered a three-month period of hiatus, in which time we formulated a strategy of reformation. Part of this included sending leadership to Los Angeles to gain knowledge by working with more experienced comrades there, in the interests of returning to our work in Austin. Second, there have been no ruptures, splits, or major political disagreements among members, nor have any of our members been “kicked out.” Some members who were in need of time off to better their political work have been granted that and are still active revolutionary communists. Other members who have moved from Austin remain committed to the project and continue assisting comrades in their new locations.

Honestly from my own organizing experience I can say that their analysis of the challenges of getting through periods of relatively low activity is accurate and that as an organization they're experiencing a lot of challenges... and they are actively working on those challenges. I think it is implicitly conservative or reflects a lack of concrete organizing experience to read the honest summary of their work on their internal contradictions and call them dead because they are actively trying to develop new knowledge through practice in a sphere of organizing for which honestly there is very little to draw on (MLM practice in the USA in the 21st century, specifically in Texas). All I think that shows is that they are rightly attentive to the need to work through internal contradictions and make time for regroupment and internal work and development when your capacity is low and falling.

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