Self-Criticism, February 8th, 2021

This is an open letter of apology and self criticism addressed to Omaha Tenants United, to those who supported me during my campaigns for Legislature and City Council, and to Progressives, Socialists, and Communists in Omaha in general.

I want to address a couple mistakes that are not inherently connected, except that they were all my mistakes, and take this opportunity to speak to the values of Communism that I failed to live up to. Running for Public Office is a huge responsibility, especially if you are invoking Socialism when doing so. I do not plan on running for any offices in the near future, and I am looking forward to removing myself from a position of leadership (a default effect of electoral politics) in the local movement and recommitting to my own education and work in the community as a Communist. 

First, I made a salacious post on Facebook about Omaha Tenants United, after being wronged by another member. This outburst was nothing more than a tantrum - a lashing out because I had been insulted. No matter how just my anger, my response was uncalled for, and I apologize to the membership of Omaha Tenants United as well as to the leadership of OTU. My actions had the potential to and may have permanently damaged the reputation of the group to members of the public or to OTU members themselves. Eventually I took steps to go through mediation with the member I was having difficulty with, and a resolution was reached in a comradely spirit. This Comrade and I should have taken more appropriate steps to communicate our disagreements and problems before emotions boiled over into reactionary behavior, myself especially. Bad behavior on the part of others in any scenario does not excuse or permit bad behavior from myself, and the masses will see who acts with discipline in public and who does not. Communists who hope to help lead the masses in correct struggle must maintain discipline in person and online. 

Second, I should not have briefly run for City Council this winter. I knew from the beginning that this “campaign” was mostly for show. My private intentions were to bring pressure on Moderate Democrat candidates and use my public profile to help bolster the campaign of a progressive Woman of Color also running. While I believe I accomplished those goals, how I went about accomplishing them was with an individualistic mindset. One cannot be a Socialist and be off doing their own thing without consulting their comrades or building a project around the idea and working with others. No one was helping me with my brief City Council campaign, and I didn’t consult any of my comrades about whether or not I should run. I knew that my goals (stated above) were attainable with my own actions and I decided to act. It’s worth repeating that this is a highly individualistic mindset, and no matter how realistic or attainable my goals were - taking those actions in the name of Socialism dilutes what Socialism is not only to me but to everyone who sees me do it, and makes Socialism less effective at combating Capitalism. This is unacceptable.

Third, in the course of running for City Council, it was brought to my attention by at least one person that they felt I had used their story for my own personal benefit, without putting in the work they wanted to see from me. This person was experiencing eviction and displacement due to Gentrification, and I did not do as much for this person as I could have. While the economic forces that displaced them were already in motion to the point of making resistance nearly futile, this person - a supporter of my campaigns - felt that I had used them and was insulted and disheartened. My individualistic mindset blinded me to how I was treating other people. As mentioned above, I knew my goals were attainable - and I obviously didn’t stop to consider how my actions were being perceived by other people.

In many cases, proactive communication could have prevented each of these problems. I should have reached out for the opinions of my comrades, or been more connected to those I sought to help - instead of assuming that my goals were altruistic and in tune with Socialism and therefore acceptable. I adopted individualistic behavior in the pursuit of “spreading the ideas of Socialism within electoral politics”, and in doing so, undermined the very values I was attempting to promote.

I regret these actions and apologize for uncomradely behavior specifically to Jade, Talia, and Lucas. My growth into Socialism and Communism has been mostly focused through a lens of Electoral Politics, made more extreme by my own candidacy. I have a lot of reflection, study, and work to do if I really want to be a valuable asset to my comrades and any revolutionary movement anywhere. I hope this letter continues me down that path, and I would ask anyone with any more thoughts or questions to reach out to me privately.

Onward.

Mark B. Vondrasek