Che-Lives

File:Chelives.jpg

Che-lives is a site dedicated to radical leftist ideas and discussion. 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 over 7900 members.

The 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 Che-Lives' controversial board structure.

The Commie Club

The Commie Club, which got its name as a joke, is the decision-making body of the community on Che-Lives. 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.

Recently a long-lost Admin has returned. And the name now changes with the wind. "Commie Crowd", "Commie Quantum Leap", "Forum Forum" are just a few of the names it has rotated through, to make it clear that the name is not to be taken seriously.

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 at revolutionary politics. At this time, the board took a position which was distinctly and clearly anti-Authoritarian, restricting Maoists and Stalinists quite frequently. Critics declare this a sign of sectarianism and a Community not serious about radical leftism.

These differences of view have 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 is referred to as "Che-Libs".

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 Che-Lives today is one 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 Commie Club, 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.

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.

Relevant links

• http://www.che-lives.com/, the site itself
• http://i-p-f.cjb.net/
• http://www.ernesto-guevara.com/forums/
• http://status.che-lives.com, on another sever, the status of Che-Lives.