First Published: Communist, No. 1, Winter 1970.
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Paul Saba
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The MARXIST-LENINIST PARTY is the party of the proletariat in the American nation. The Party exists to wage Class War, overthrow imperialism in armed revolution, and build the Dictatorship of the proletariat in the American nation, Socialism, and Communism.
The MARXIST-LENINIST PARTY, in acceptance of the revolutionary principles of the Documents issued by the Ninth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, recognizes the fundamental contradictions in the contemporary world as:
The contradiction between the oppressed nations on the one hand and imperialism and social-imperialism on the other; the contradiction between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie in the capitalist and revisionist countries; the contradiction between imperialist and social-imperialist countries, and among the imperialist countries; and the contradiction between socialist countries on the one hand and imperialism and social-imperialism on the other. (from Lin Plao’s report to the Ninth National Congress of the Communist Party of China.)
The oppression and exploitation of nations under imperialism has increased. But imperialism is not only the highest stage of capitalism, but its final stage as well, and the general crisis of imperialism brings on wave upon wave of Peoples Wars of National Liberation in the countryside of the world, The victories of Peoples Wars in Africa, Asia, and Latin America are changing the world through armed revolution more quickly in this century than ever before in human history,, The victory of the peoples War in South Viet Nam is the undeniable proof of this. The encirclement of the cities of the world, the imperialist and revisionist countries, by the countryside of the world, the oppressed nations and peoples, is the main expression of the present world revolutionary movement.
The victories of Peoples Wars points out the absolute need for proletarian internationalism, for turning the imperialist wars into civil wars and revolutions in the imperialist countries,, for bringing the war home, and for completing the victories of the Peoples Wars with the victory of Class War. Both Peoples War in the countryside and Class War in the cities oppose the reactionary violence of imperialism, revisionism, and reaction, with the revolutionary violence of the proletariat and the oppressed nations. Chairman Mao has stated: Only with guns can the whole world be transformed. Peoples War proves this brilliant thesis to be true. The only genuine basis for a United Front Against Imperialism is when the proletariat in the cities of the world picks up the gun alongside the oppressed nations.
The contradiction between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie is a fundamental class contradiction based on the social relations of the means of production. This contradiction is irreconcilable and is manifested in class struggle, in strikes, violent outbreaks and uprisings, and other forms of struggle. This contradiction will only be resolved with the destruction of the bourgeoisie as a class, and bourgeois ideology as the expression of that class. The proletariat of all countries is the only class that will liberate all mankind from the capitalist and imperialist system. The everyday class struggle of the proletariat must be raised to the level of Class War, of armed proletarian revolution, under the leadership of the party of the proletariat. The contradiction between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie is thus resolved in the full process of the class struggle, before, during, and after the proletarian Revolution.
The essence of imperialism compels the imperialists to struggle for the domination and redivision of the world. This struggle is increasing in breadth and depth and is causing the disintegration of various blocs, alliances, and treaties among the imperialist countries, and the definite emergence of U.S. imperialism and Soviet social-imperialism as the two main imperialist powers in the world today. However much the imperialist powers may fight among themselves, they are united against the proletariat and the oppressed nations and peoples, and no alliance is possible with any imperialist power.
The contradiction between socialist countries and imperialist countries is an irreconcilable contradiction between two entirely different social systems. It is a contradiction between the Dictatorship of the Proletariat and the Dictatorship of the bourgeoisie. The imperialists cannot tolerate the existence of socialist countries, and are intent on provoking war with the socialist countries. The U.S. imperialist aggression against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and the Soviet social-imperialist aggression against the Peoples Republic of China are the main expressions of these intentions. Chairman Mao has recently pointed out: With regard to the question of world war, there are but two possibilities? one is that war will give rise to revolution and the other is that revolution will prevent the war. This brilliant thesis guides the policy and strategy of the leaders of the socialist countries. If the U.S. imperialists, Soviet social-imperialists, and their lackeys persist in their aggressive intentions against the socialist countries, this will only hasten their doom.
The primary contradiction in the U.S.A. is the contradiction between the American nation, heartland of U.S. imperialism, and the direct colonies of U.S. imperialism: Puerto Rico, the Black Belt nation in the south, and the Chicano nation in the southwest. The struggle of the oppressed nations in the U.S.A. is a key part of the world-wide National Liberation struggle. The oppressed nations in the U.S.A. will liberate themselves through Peoples War. The proletariat of the oppressed nations in the U.S.A. are building their own parties, armies and united fronts. The MARXIST-LENINIST PARTY resolutely combats all national-chauvinism, including the national-chauvinism that denies the right of the proletariat in oppressed nations to form their own parties, In the American nation, there exist national minorities, including Native Americans, Eskimos, Chinese, Japanese, Philippinos, and others, as well as national minorities drawn from the Black Belt, Puerto Rico, and the Chicano nation. These national minorities, increasingly exploited and oppressed in the American nation, and concentrated in the millions in the key urban industrial centers, constitute the most advanced and revolutionary section of the proletariat in the American nation. Peoples War in Puerto Rico, the Black Belt, and the Chicano nation in the southwest may be victorious against U.S. imperialism before the victory of Class War in the American nation. It is the primary duty of the proletariat in the American nation, with the national minority proletarians in the head, to provide full support and assistance to the Peoples Wars in Puerto Rico, the Black Belt, and the Chicano nation in the southwest.
The secondary contradiction in the U.S.A, is the contradiction between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. This is primarily manifested in the American nation with class struggles, including strikes, violent uprisings, and armed struggle. In the American nation the class struggle is the primary contradiction, the basis for Proletarian Revolution. In the direct colonies of U.S. imperialism, Puerto Rico, the Black Belt, and the Chicano nation, the class struggle also rages, but is also a national struggle, because the bourgeoisie In the oppressed nations in the U.S.A. is a comprador bourgeoisie tied to U.S. imperialism. The trade union question is a dead issue insofar as the Proletarian Revolution is concerned. In the era of imperialism, no matter with what leadership, the trade unions are no longer ”schools for communism” but rather schools for revisionism. The trade unions serve the bidding of U.S. imperialism, pitting the labor aristocracy against the proletariat, and splitting the working-class as a whole along lines of nationality, sex, and age. Our objective is to smash the trade unions in the American nation, and thereby to smash the bourgeoisie’s main influence and control in the working-class. We call for the building of new organs of class struggle, for Workers Militias and mass organizations that unite proletarians of all industries with the rank-and-file of the imperialist armed forces and the lumpen-proletarian masses. The historical experience of the working-class shows the need for new organs of struggle, expressing the new and higher level of class struggle, related specifically to armed struggle and armed revolution. The new organs of struggle, such as the Soviets, or Workers Soldiers and Peasants Councils in the Bolshevik Revolution, the peoples revolutionary councils which are the organs of power in the Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Viet Nam, and the Three-in-one Revolutionary Committees in the Peoples Republic of China, are the basis of the new organs of power, under the Peoples Democratic Dictatorship and the Proletarian Dictatorship, Through the new organs of struggle, strikes must bo raised to the level of armed struggle, and armed struggle must be raised to the level of armed revolution.
The oppression of women is an inevitable social expression of the unequal division of labor based on private property in the means of production. The oppression of women will be ended with the destruction of imperialism, the overthrowal of bourgeois property relations, including the family, and the building of socialism and communism, The MARXIST-LENINIST PARTY calls for the building of Women’s Armed Defense Groups to fully express and organize the equality of women and men in armed struggle and armed revolution,. The MARXIST-LENINIST PASTY also calls for the building of the Red Women’s Detachment as the mass organization of workingwomen under the leadership of the party.
Monopoly Capitalists: The monopoly capitalist group possesses the fewest number of persons and the largest amount of wealth and power. The monopoly capitalists economically, militarily, and politically control the U.S.A. through their Dictatorship of their state, their army, their police, etc. The monopoly capitalists cannot operate solely from one country, they are imperialists, and the U.S. imperialist monopoly capitalists also directly oppress and exploit the Puerto Rican nation, the Black Belt, and the Chicano nation in the southwest, as well as many other countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, Oceania, and Europe. The monopoly capitalists who are the core of U.S. imperialism, living in the American nation, are the most vicious enemy of the peoples of the world, including the people in the American nation.
Middle Bourgeoisie: The middle bourgeoisie is that section of the bourgeoisie which owns most of the small corporations, small factories, and farms, but is not able to control and manipulate whole sections of industry or play a direct role in state power. The middle bourgeoisie support imperialism internationally and they are the main ally of the monopoly capitalist group. However sections of the middle bourgeoisie seek a return to laissez-faire capitalism and ”free competition” and thus oppose centralization and concentration of wealth and power. The middle bourgeoisie expresses its disagreement with the monopoly capitalist groups in various so-called conservative movements. These are as reactionary as the political expressions of the monopoly capitalist group, the Republican and Democratic parties. No alliances are possible between the proletariat and any section of the middle bourgeoisie, no matter how “progressive” they appear to be. Petty-Bourgeoisie: The petty-bourgeoisie are owners of small shoos and small real-estate and professionals of various kinds. The petty-bourgeoisie are the largest section of the bourgeoisie as a whole in numbers, and the least stable. They are constantly being thrown down into the proletariat and lumpen-proletariat, but bringing its bourgeois ideology with it, is a base for revisionism in the working-class as a whole. Left sections of the petty-bourgeoisie, especially youth, are capable of waging armed struggle against U.S. imperialism in the American nation, and have proved themselves valid allies of the proletariat and the oppressed nations, other sections of the petty-bourgeoisie unite with the aristocracy of labor in a number of small independent political formations, both leftwing and rightwing. These political formations are the concrete source of revisionism, national-chauvinism, male-chauvinism, reformism, and other reactionary ideas that divide the working-class. No alliance is possible with these political formations. They must be smashed and the genuine anti-imperialist elements among them won to the side of the proletariat, and the oppressed nations.
Aristocracy of Labor: The aristocracy of labor is that highly-bribed section of the workingclass which sides with the bourgeoisie. They are the smallest section of the working-class in numbers, but are granted the most privilege, and thus exercise an influence greater than their number. The aristocracy of labor is the main basis for the trade union bureaucracy, scabs, and goons, and other reactionary flunkeys of U.S. Imperialism. They must be smashed along with their rackets the trade unions, and replaced by the leadership of the proletariat.
The Proletariat: The proletariat is the most oppressed and exploited section of the working-class and the largest section of the working-class as a whole, The proletariat in the American nation is the vanguard of all mass struggles against U.S. Imperialism, especially the armed struggles. Concentrated in the largest numbers in the basic heavy industries, such as Auto, Steel, Mining, Transportation, etc,, the proletariat is the most organized and advanced section of the working-class and the only section capable of leading armed struggle and aimed revolution in the American nation. The proletarians drawn from rural areas, especially the national minority proletarians drawn from the Black Belt, Puerto Rico, and the Chicano nation in the southwest, have shown in numerous violent uprisings, including Watts, Detroit, Newark, Harlem, and Washington DC, that they are already waging Class War against U.S. imperialism, and these struggles are a battle-cry to all the working-class and its allies in the American nation to organize armed struggle and prepare for armed revolution. The proletariat in the American nation will build the Party of the proletariat, make the Revolution of the proletariat, and build the Dictatorship of the Proletariat. Those who would ally with the proletariat must unite on the basis of accepting the leadership of the proletariat.
Lumpen-proletariat: The lumpen-proletariat in the era of imperialism is the direct opposite of the lumpen-proletariat in the early stages of capitalism. In the era of imperialism the lumpen-proletariat increases enormously primarily due to the addition of unemployed and unskilled workers, rather than the remnants of feudal classes as in the early stages of capitalism. The lumpen-proletariat is overwhelmingly comprised of national minorities, and has proved, especially in armed and violent struggles, that it is the most reliable ally of the proletariat. The lumpen-proletarian women and youth have especially shown their eagerness to unite with the proletariat in armed revolution. Those so-called ”left” tendencies which attack the lumpen-proletariat in the capitalist countries are the same as those tendencies which tried to split the worker-peasant alliance in the Chinese and other revolutions. The revisionist-trotskyite line of ”alliance of workers and students” is an attempt by the bourgeoisie to keep the proletariat in the cities of the world divided from its main ally - the lumpen-proletariat.
The proletariat and the entire working-class in the American nation has been without its own leadership for several decades. The bourgeoisie has used revisionism, trade unionism, reformism, racism, and male-chauvinism to corrupt and liquidate the advanced sections of the proletariat and workingclass. The IWW, the once-great Communist Party, and the other genuine leadership of the proletariat was either wiped out or bought out. It is the primary task of the party of the proletariat to rebuild and effectively consolidate the leadership of the proletariat, in politics and in warfare. The trade unions, the phoney “Communist Party” and all its sham left satellites, and the aristocracy of labor have to be smashed. There can be no basis for unity with revisionism, trade unionism, reformism, legalism, or any other reactionary tendency in the ranks of the proletariat or the workingclass as a whole. All of these tendencies are havens for police spies, careerists, and reactionaries of various kinds. The sham left groups, including the phoney ”Marxists” of the PLP, Workers World, RYM, Workers League, Sparticists, SWP, SLP, are in no way legitimate expressions of the workingclass. All of these sham left groups promote the suicidal policy of completely exposing all leadership, membership, and cadres in open legal activity, and provide listening-posts for the police, thus are extremely dangerous to the unity and solidarity of the proletariat and its allies, and must be smashed. There can be no joint activity with any of these groups or tendencies, nationally or internationally, but all efforts must be maintained to win over the genuine proletarian revolutionary elements in these groups.
The MARXIST-LENINIST PARTY is building the leadership of the proletariat in the American nation, to carry out the tasks of armed struggle and armed revolution, and to build, the Dictatorship of the Proletariat, and wage class struggle under socialism until communism is achieved world-wide. The MARXIST-LENINIST PARTY calls for the building of the Red Army of the workingclass and the United Front of Armed Struggle of all forces opposed to imperialism and revisionism. The MARXIST-LENINIST PARTY fulfills its proletarian internationalist duty In providing the fullest assistance to the Peoples Wars of National Liberation in Puerto Rico, the Black Belt, and the Chicano nation, as well as the peoples Wars in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The MARXIST-LENINIST PARTY also further extends and deepens its contact with other anti-imperialist and anti-revisionist forces nationally and internationally. The aim of all genuine Marxist-Leninist Parties and forces in the world today must be to rebuild the Communist International, to rebuild the world party of the proletariat based on Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought. In order to build the leadership of the proletariat, including the party, army, and united front, in the cities of the world, it is necessary to have no faith in bourgeois-democratic legality. The party must strive everywhere to build a parallel exposed and unexposed structure, including leadership, publications, and activity. We must carry out the policy of exposing the least number of forces to carry out the most effective open work, arousing the broadest sections of the masses. We have already dispersed our forces to arouse the masses. This dispersal is the policy of building mass organizations under the leadership of the party, and. developing alliances with other proletarian revolutionary forces, We must then concentrate our forces to deal with the enemy, forging the mass organization into a united front of armed struggle and a Red Army of workers, soldiers, women, and youth. The policy of building mass organizations is based on the mass line: from the masses, to the masses. The task of the party is to concentrate and organize the struggles of the masses, raise them to a higher level, of armed struggle, and then bring this back to the masses in the form of the party’s main call and basic program: Armed Proletarian Revolution and the Dictatorship of the Proletariat.
The MARXIST-LENINIST PARTY carries forward the red banner of Communist Revolution, the banner of Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, Mao Tsetung, and Enver Hoxha. The MARXIST-LENINIST PARTY, the party of the proletariat in the American nation, the heartland of U.S. Imperialism, calls upon workers of all nationalities, industries, sex, age, employed and unemployed, in the fields, factories, workshops, barracks, and prisons to unite for armed struggle and armed revolution, to unite and overthrow imperialism, revisionism, and all reaction. The MARXIST-LENINIST PARTY declares:
Long Live Mao Tsetung, the Lenin of our era!
Long Live the Victory of Class War!
Power to the Proletariat!
FORWARD TO ARMED REVOLUTION!