this post was submitted on 24 Apr 2026
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For a communist party in Europe that is very sizeable. Also, not all parties take membership equally seriously. In the US membership in the Democrat and Republican parties is huge but it is virtually meaningless. Compare with Germany where the two largest parties CDU and SPD only have around 365-370k members.
In general, communist parties take membership much more seriously than most liberal bourgeois parties do. There is a higher standard set on members, there are requirements in terms of party discipline and theoretical-ideological education, and more obligations and expectations. Communist parties are vanguard parties. There are many times more sympathizers and supporters than there are actual members, and that's the way it's supposed to be.
But yes, even with all that, of course it is very diminished compared to what the CPSU used to be. One day, inshallah, that will come back.
Yeah, I'm not a member of my country's communist party (bc I'm lazy and I've only listened to like a half dozen communist audiobooks) but I am in that "sympathizer" territory
And that's perfectly fine and normal. We need as many sympathizers as we can get. You play a very important role.
I don't think I can be a member of mine because of socially reactionary tendencies.
It's up to you where you draw your red line. I would usually say that an imperfect communist party is still better than no party. And things can always improve over time, maybe with the help of progressive minded people like yourself slowly pushing them in that direction.
But obviously everyone has a limit to how much they can tolerate, and if the things that the other party members do or say make it really impossible for you to be around them, then that party is not for you.
I gotcha. But "can't" in this context means "I doubt they'd let me."
Some people will be organized members of the party. But even if you are not formally organized, if already follow what your local party is doing and join them in events or demonstrations, you are indirectly organized.