An ultra-left trend presently has the upper hand among anti-revisionists. Growing up as an overreaction to the sins of revisionism, this trend is characterized by its infantile “left-wing” approach to the revolutionary process in the U.S. Impatient with the pace of development of the class struggle, the ultra-lefts have fallen prey to “left” idealism and philosophy, voluntarism in sociology, and adventurism and sectarianism in politics.
However, a Marxist-Leninist tendency has developed to challenge the ultra-lefts. Deeply committed to solving the difficult contradictions posed by the U.S. revolution, this tendency is convinced that genuine revolutionaries must be both anti-revisionist and anti-“left.” As a result, the tendency has set out to overcome the ultra-left line that predominates in the communist movement and to elaborate a system of politics which is truly capable of advancing the people’s agenda in our country.
But in order to proceed with these important tasks, it was first necessary to define the dividing line between “left” opportunism and Marxism-Leninism. The principal expression of ultra-leftism in politics had to be identified and a clear alternative set forth. This demarcation process would allow for a principled separation of those who generally stood by ultra-leftism from those who adhered to revolutionary politics. Such a separation was necessary since obviously it is only the latter who can make a genuine contribution to both the necessary rectification and its related theoretical elaboration.
The Organizing Committee for an Ideological Center (OC) played a leading role in defining and asserting the demarcation with modern “left-wing” communism. The forces initiating the OC argued that the primary demarcation should be made on international line. They held that the dominant anti-revisionist perspective – identifying the Soviet Union as either a co-equal or even greater enemy of the world’s peoples than U.S. imperialism–was objectively ultra-left. To this they counterposed a clear targetting of the U.S. as the main obstacle to the worldwide struggle for national liberation, peace and socialism. Thus, they formulated their 18th point of unity as follows:
The working class must practice the principles of proletarian internationalism: it must take up every struggle against imperialism anywhere in the world and champion it as its own struggle. In the present context the practice of proletarian internationalism is impossible without correctly identifying the main enemy of the world’s people. By “main enemy” Marxist-Leninists understand the main obstacle to the consolidation of national liberation, democracy, peace and socialism. Today that main enemy is U.S. imperialism.
Within the forces assembled to constitute the OC a sharp controversy broke out. A significant minority argued that although they were not sure whether U.S. imperialism was the main enemy or not, they were certain that it was incorrect to divide ultra-lefts from Marxist-Leninists on the basis of their attitude to point 18. Such a demarcation, they held, would only have sectarian consequences.
In order to resolve this difference, the OC decided to organize an extensive debate between the two points of view. A discussion bulletin was published, joint preparation organized, and three regional conferences held. Eventually the whole dispute was settled at the OC’s Second National Conference. Overwhelmingly, the OC members held that it was indeed necessary to demarcate on the basis of point 18.
All the documents printed in this pamphlet stem from this debate. The first three formed the original discussion bulletin; they are the OC Steering Committee’s discussion theses, the minority’s position paper and the majority’s response. The fourth is a transcript of a speech given by the OC’s chairperson at the last regional conference; it reflects the significant deepening of the majority’s point of view which developed in the course of the debate. And the final document is the Steering Committee’s summation of the point 18 debate as a whole.
We present these documents because we think that they will make a significant contribution to the process of setting right the anti-revisionist communist movement and also to laying the foundations for a genuine vanguard party.
Steering Committee
Organizing Committee for an Ideological Center
December 1979