First Published: The Forge, Vol. 1, No. 24, December 16, 1976
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Malcolm and Paul Saba
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The question of unity among Marxist-Leninists is of key importance today in the context of the struggle to create an authentic Marxist-Leninist party in Canada. The struggle for unity cannot be separated from the struggle against opportunism.
We are not seeking unity at the price of abandoning revolutionary principles. And we are not seeking to unite Marxism-Leninism with opportunism. This is why it is so important to know who is Marxist-Leninist and who is not. For this reason, the example of the group Mobilisation is worth examining.
Recently Mobilisation made a self-criticism of its ideological and political line and of its practice since it first set up its bookstore (Librairie Progressiste) four years ago. This line was marked through and through with spontaneity, right opportunism, revisionism and economism. On publishing its self-criticism. Mobilisation declared and stated insistently that it was now a Marxist-Leninist group. The CCL(ML) considers and has always considered that Mobilisation is not, never was and never can become a Marxist-Leninist group.
Mobilisation is an opportunist group in the process of rectification in correcting its errors. We think that the activists from Mobilisation are sincere in their desire to break with and reject their past opportunism and to join the ranks of the Marxist-Leninist movement. They have taken up the struggle to change themselves into true proletarian revolutionaries. However, the members of Mobilisation are mistaken in maintaining that this process has been completed. In fact, opportunism has not been swept from their ideological and political line. Although the proletarian line dealt some hard blows to the bourgeois line within Mobilisation, it has not yet triumphed and is still not the dominant line in the group.
Mobilisation”s opportunism does not take the same obvious form as it used to, but it is all the more dangerous. It now takes the form of narrow small-group mentality. This group mentality hides behind an incorrect concept of the process of struggle-criticism-reform which Mobilisation began in order to overcome its bourgeois line.
Mobilisation is not another Marxist-Leninist group. Actually it was part of and even headed a “family” of five opportunist groups: the RCT (now dissolved), the CRIQ (GAS), the APLQ and the NPE (CCML)[1] Like the other groups, Mobilisation did not recognize the correctness of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought as a guide to action during the years when the Marxist Leninist movement was young and weak in Quebec. On the contrary, it spit on Marxist-Leninists, and particularly on In Struggle! and the CMO[2] who tried to make them.understand the necessity of breaking with opportunism 2 years ago. Mobilisation denounced and tried to sabotage the work of communists.
It was only when the Marxist-Leninist movement became stronger, when its influence amongst the masses spread and when it began to destroy the roots of these opportunists in the workers” movement, that Mobilisation and the other opportunists began to seek the means to integrate into the Marxist-Leninist movement. That”s what Mobilisation had always done. They left the ship when it started to sink, just like rats do.
”The dialectics of history were such that the theoretical victory of Marxism compelled its enemies to disguise themselves as Marxists”. (Lenin Vol. 18. p. 584)
Mobilisation did not evolve any differently than other opportunists. We cannot say it is “not as bad” as the others. They are not an exceptional case. It is not because Mobilisation was better in grasping the essence of its opportunism and because its ranks contained the intellectual capacities to write a nice pamphlet of self-criticism that Mobilisation becomes Marxist-Leninist. After publishing its self-criticism. Mobilisation began the process of rectification but remained an opportunist group: a group whose only reason for being is to re-educate its members and to destroy its organizational base.
Mobilisation acknowledged this itself when it defined its objectives as: “1) To continue to liquidate ideologically and politically its line of spontaneity, opportunism and economism...“ and “2) To take on the liquidation of Mobilisation’s organization”.
In spite of this, opportunism was not liquidated in Mobilisation. It added “From now until this is achieved, Mobilisation will continue to exist as a political group, only now it will be a Marxist-Leninist group.” This is how they spread confusion among the masses, sabotage the work of real Marxist-Leninist organizations and restrain the process of re-education of their members.
For Mobilisation, having made its self-criticism is enough for it to state that it is Marxist-Leninist. Self-criticism is not “the same as confession in front of a priest” (Enver Hoxha), The process of self-criticism contains three phases. The first is to accept the fact that one has made a mistake and to see the necessity of taking up the struggle to correct it. The second is to understand one’s mistakes well, to identify them correctly and to trace their origin. The third phase is to go from understanding and knowledge to practice and eliminate the errors. The process of self-criticism is not complete until all of these three phases have been completed.
It is a question of principle for Marxist-Leninists to be vigilant and to insure that the re-education of opportunist elements is complete before considering them to be Marxist Leninists and before integrating them into a Marxist-Leninist formation. Mobilisation began the process, but without following it through it cannot break with its past and will inevitably fall into an anti-party line and into opportunism. Until they eliminate the small-group mentality which dominates them, the comrades from Mobilisation will be unable to continue the process of rectification.
Let us look at the path traced out by Mobilisation up to now and the one it should have and can still adopt.
First of all, it is the strength of the Marxist-Leninist movement and particularly the political line of the CCL(ML) which stimulated and created the conditions that led the members of Mobilisation to do their self-criticism. But Mobilisation did not really understand this obvious fact and instead of placing itself under the direction of the League and studying its political line. Mobilisation drew up its own text on its political line which repeats the League”s at times word for word.
Thanks to criticisms from the CCL(ML), Mobilisation abandoned its project of creating a Marxist-Leninist organization, but it did not grasp the basic question – the fact that it is not a Marxist-Leninist group, and that only liquidating Mobilisation would allow its members to join the ranks of the Marxist-Leninist movement. Mobilisation chose to continue the process of self-criticism on its own basis. They set up a so-called Marxist-Leninist grouping, having essentially the same political line as the League, rather than liquidating and placing themselves under the direction of the League.
Mobilisation has taken an arrogant attitude towards the rest of the Marxist-Leninist movement by demanding that it be recognized as a Marxist-Leninist group. It has never made a self-criticism of its small group mentality. But above all Mobilisation hasn’t grappled with the organizational basis of its opportunism, the very existence of the group.
Since its beginning Mobilisation has always placed the interests of its own group above those of ihe proletarian movement.
Even the allegedly original contributions in its political line are crammed with errors. For example, on the secondary contradictions, the conditions for the creation of the party, the standards for membership in the Marxist-Leninist movement, and the question of the non-party principle. We will return to these errors in the next issue.
Opportunism, arrogance, small-group mentality continue to dominate Mobilisation. All the intellectual exercises in the world cannot hide the truth. All the independent and frenzied agitation and propaganda activity done in the name of Mobilisation (communist Marxist-Leninist group) will not alter reality. Mobilisation is not a Marxist-Leninist group. It did not develop an independent political line of its own. It adopted the League”s political line.
Mobilisation has not completed its process of self-criticism. By insisting on its Marxist-Leninist nature and on its independence as a “communist Marxist-Leninist group”. Mobilisation is showing an anti-party small-group mentality and an arrogance which is evidence that opportunism continues to dominate it.
The proletarian line will triumph definitely in Mobilisation when it liquidates and places itself under the leadership of the CCL(ML) (to complete its self-criticism and to join the ranks of the Marxist-Leninist movement). It is up to the comrades from Mobilisation to take up this task with the necessary courage and to break with their past once and for all.
[1] Regroupement des comités de travailleurs (Grouping of Workers Committees), Centre de recherches et d’information du Quebec (Quebec research and information center), Groupe d’action socialiste (Socialist action group), Agence de présse libre du Québec (Free Press Agency of Quebec) Noyau des petites entreprises (Small factory core), Cercle communiste marxiste-leniniste) (Communist Circle (Marxist-Leninist).
[2] Cellule militante ouviere (Cell of militant workers).