Some leftist over here consider our party to not be fully marxist/leftist whatever.
Now, would I say our party (PVDA/PTB) is perfect? No. Would I say it is the furthest an actual marxist party would go in my country? Yes. Is it therefore the best party I could join and become active in? Probably.
I participate in a lot of discussion within the party. I’m openly ML. I have my own views and the official party line doesn’t always support it. Nonetheless it is the party I see the most potential in to make actual change.
It made me think. What would you consider the bottom line for joining a party?
Side note: going to sleep now, will read replies next morning.
Though I very much understand the sentiment, I would disagree with the reluctance to participate in bourgeois democracy. This is because there are significant short term consequences for the lives of marginalized groups (take for example, trans people in the United States). Therefore, until revolution is a reality, advocating for harm reduction is sensible.
That, and it can be beneficial to your party as well. Getting elected in Parliament meant an extra 1 to 2 million a year in party budget. You can do a lot of stuff with that (like running free healthcare clinics)
If bourgeois democracy is used as a tool by the party to reach and educate the working masses and grow the party then I can agree with that. What I originally meant was a marxist party obeying by bourgeois rules, to the point where the main focus becomes electoralism and everything else gets pushed to the side, loosing sight of its original goals and loosing the revolutionary spirit. Essentially taming the party and putting a leash on it, if that makes sense.