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Che-Lives
Che-lives is a web site dedicated to radical leftist ideas and discussion. The website hosts a live net radio station, a Che-Lives Ezine written by members of the forum, covering a whole range of leftist issues, and a discussion forum for the left. Originally started as a site dedicated to Che Guevara, it has grown into one of the largest communities of radical leftists on the internet, with more than 8000 members. The forum itself is now on a seperate URL [1], as a result of a community decision to broaden its horizons.
It also has a Che-Lives store, with Che paraphanelia. Though this has been the object of some scorn from outsiders.
Contents
Radio Rebelde
The Che-Lives community has recently relaunched one of the popular features of the site to the community at large, Radio Rebelde. Playing left wing music 24/7, the internet station is available for free on the homepage.
Che-Lives E-Zine
Che-Lives also has an E-Zine, available both in html and PDF format, written by members from across the political spectrum. It covers issues from the German KPD's battles against the Nazi party, to the Iraq war, and reaches thousands of readers.
Revolutionary Left
The site's most visible section, which has its own URL, is the forum, with over 8000 members. Its general mission is to be a university of sorts for young leftists to learn about the ideas of Marxism, Anarchism and the Left in general, and enter the arena of radical activism, prepared with the ideas necessary to be effective in their goals. In keeping with this aim, the forum has a section devoted to learning basics, as well as a more advanced theory section, and a practice section to interconnect activists from across the world and connect young workers and students with an organization in their area to work with in advancing their aims.
The Revolutionary Left community has been met with reactions ranging from praise to downright scorn over its collective political trends as well as its administrative structure.
The forum takes a position of tolerance with reservations towards supporters of Capitalism, allowing them to post on the boards, but restricting them to one area of discussion entitled "Opposing Ideologies". Members who have shown themselves to be mildly nationalistic, sexist or homophobic, but not enough to be banned, are restricted here as well depending on the collective decision of the community. Outright racists, sexists and homophobes are summarily banned.
Some condemn the decision-making process, as well as the decisions to ban those whose opinions may be deemed "unacceptable" as elitist. In order to understand the basis of such accusations, and why they have grown to spawn at least 3 smaller boards, we will need to take a look at Revolutionary Left's controversial board structure.
The Commie Club/Forum Forum
The Commie Club, which got its name as a joke, is the decision-making body of the community on Revolutionary Left. It began simply as a way to have debates amongst leftists over the many different tendencies within the radical left without having to repeat "left vs. right" debates in every thread. Its original purpose was soon meaningless as the policy of restricting right-wing members was adopted. As the site grew however, its founder was in need of more help in keeping the site up and running. Thus began the selection of Moderators by vote, and the Commie Club's designation as a "democratic decision-making body".
It began as a forum where any dedicated leftist, after a month and at least 50 posts, could send a message to an Administrator and be allowed in. Eventually as the site grew, a process was adopted to involve the entire Commie Club in recruitment. It was a process of nominations, whereby members nominated others and other members had to second the nomination.
Today the nomination process has been replaced by regular polls. Any CC member can start a poll on bringing in a new member.
Recently a long-lost Admin has returned and the name now changes with the wind. At has been named "Forum Forum" previously, a name preferred by a few members of the CC, but is currently named "Ian McKellen's Death Brigade Forum". Sometime in the future the board might actually decide on a name for it that is permanent, but the frequent name changing is no problem to anyone, and provides a good laugh once in a while.
Liberalism
As the years progressed, the Commie Club began to drift towards positions that put them at odds with some of the site's members. Allegations of elitism and liberalism were levelled against the board for the political trends on the site. Such groups included the Maoist Internationalist Movement, which accused the board of being a collection of teenagers playing revolutionary politics. At this time, the board took a position which was distinctly and clearly anti-authoritarian, restricting Maoists and Stalinists quite frequently. Critics declared this a sign of sectarianism and a community not serious about radical leftism.
These differences of view led to the creation of two boards. One now mostly defunct named the International Socialist Front, and another named Ernesto-Guevara.com, where Che-Lives and its forum are referred to as "Che-Libs" and Neo-Nazis are openly accepted into the community.
Elitism
More recently, the site has backed away from its institutionalized positions against Stalinism, though more and more board members have become Anarchists. Instead, the criticisms most often levelled against Revolutionary Left today are those of elitism or a lack of political tolerance. Many of the more moderate (and more "liberal") members feel threatened or disappointed to see the board take positions such as creating a "Religion" subforum to "Opposing Ideologies" with the purpose of restricting religious discussions. Other clash points include the further politicization of the decision-making forum which has led to many long-time members being expelled from that forum and left out of all future decisions. This shift to radical politics has resulted in a lot of heated debate and some members voluntarily resigning from the Forum Forum, and is expected to cause even more issues in future.
This issue was one that likely spawned a website named the International Political Forums, which is a forum that includes supporters of Capitalism as well as moderate leftists.
The Future
Whether it is considered a blight on the radical left, or a community providing an easy way for people to learn about leftist struggle and get involved, Che-Lives continues to grow and will likely continue to be a platform for as well as a source of debate on the left for years.
Currently, the board is undergoing a reconstruction of sorts. There are open debates about the future of the board and how to move forwards.
It remains to be seen however whether the community's attempts to organize its members and encourage active participation in their movement is wishful thinking.
External links
- Che-Lives, the site itself
- Revolutionary Left, the site's forum
- Che-lives' and Revolutionary Left's server status
- International Political Forum
- Ernesto-Guevara.com
