I WANT TO BELIEVE

Advocating nuclear war, attempting communication with dolphins, and taking an interest in the paranormal and UFOs, there is perhaps no greater (or stranger) cautionary tale for the Left than that of Posadism. Named after the Argentine Trotskyist J. Posadas, the movement’s journey through the fractious and sectarian world of mid-20th century revolutionary socialism was unique. This book is a “dumpster dive” into the weird and wonderful world of the Posadists.
 
Although at times significant, Posadas' movement was ultimately a failure. As it disintegrated, it increasingly grew to resemble a bizarre cult, detached from the working class it sought to liberate. The renewed interest in Posadism today, especially for its more outlandish fixations, speaks to both a cynicism towards the past and nostalgia for the earnest belief that a better world is possible. 

In the Introduction, A.M. Gittlitz writes, “Insurrection or first contact could come any day, Marxists and ufologists both tell us, but both are far more likely if we desire them, embracing a sentiment enigmatically expressed in a meme come before its time, a poster on the wall of rouge FBI agent Fox Mulder in the ‘90s sci-fi noir The X-Files: hovering alongside a granny image of a comically unconvincingly flying saucer and the words I WANT TO BELIEVE".

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"Looks back at the history of Posadism to explore why this largely discredited movement has elicited so much recent interest." — Art in America