Speech at the Third National Conference of the Marxist-Leninist
Party, USA
Fall 1986
Reprinted from the Workers' Advocate
Supplement, vol. 3, #2, February 15,
1987
.
Subheads:
Taken by Itself, Economic Struggle Is
Inherently Narrow
Imbue the Working Class with Revolutionary Theory and
Communist Convictions
Leader of All the Oppressed
Skeptical But Not
Politically Active
A Typical Example
A Contradictory Situation
Mass
Working Class Participation Strengthens the Oppositional Character of the
Struggle
What Kind of Participation?
How Is the Giant To Be
Awakened?
The Objective Situation Is Maturing
The Spontaneous Factor Can
Not Substitute for Organization
Bring Politics into the Factories
The
Anti-Racist Movement and the Building of the Pro-Party Trend
In the
1980's
Unceasing Political Agitation
An Anti-Apartheid Action
In
Support of the Nicaraguan People
Independent Contingents in
Reformist-Dominated Actions
Use Every Occasion to Develop the Political
Interest of the Workers
Bring the Movement to the Workers
Pressures to
Downplay Political Agitation
Conditions Always Exist for Political
Agitation
Combining Anti-Imperialist Agitation with the Economic
Struggle
It Is Communism That Gives the Working Class Its Political
Voice
Utilize All Actions with a Mass Character
Soweto Day 1985 in
Seattle
In Closing
Comrades,
. The factories and other work places are the most important everyday arenas of the struggle between the classes. Here the workers are concentrated, disciplined by the production process, enlightened, and welded into organization by the more or less constant struggle with the employer.
. Factory experience and the economic struggle are important for mustering
the proletarian army and placing it on the threshold of a struggle for state
power. Much can be learned in the industrial
struggle: that capitalist society is based on
exploitation; that underneath the fine words, there is a thinly
concealed war between the classes; that the workers have the
power to at least partially impose their will on the employers if they are
united and organized; and a thousand and one other
things.
Taken by Itself, Economic Struggle Is Inherently Narrow
. But, while important, the factory experience is also inherently narrow. The working class will never be able to launch a determined struggle for the overthrow of capitalism, and to establish a new, socialist society, without a prior period of participation in all the important oppositional political movements in society at large, i.e., outside the work places. There are many reasons for this; let's just touch on four of the most important.
. First, the economic emancipation of the working class requires a political revolution, the conquering of state power. The workers must intervene on the political questions as well as the economic. They face the task of transforming all aspects of society.
. Second, no matter how vigorous, opposition to economic exploitation alone
is not sufficient to generate the immense amounts of revolutionary energy that a
socialist revolution requires. This energy and initiative can
only be released when the workers take up the struggle against all aspects of
their oppression. Militarism and war, racism, cultural blight,
police tyranny and bureaucratic arrogance, nuclear madness and toxic waste
poisoning, etc. all produce huge reservoirs of resentment and
bitterness among the working masses. This must be tapped
through the political struggle.
Imbue the Working Class with Revolutionary Theory
and
Communist Convictions
. Third, everyday factory experience alone is not broad enough to show the
position of the classes on all issues; to demonstrate the class
basis of the different political trends; to show the class
struggle in its entirety. It cannot by itself give rise to and
substantiate communist convictions and revolutionary theory.
The theory of the socialist revolution is based on the scientific understanding
of the entirety of world history. This cannot be learned simply
from factory experience. This knowledge, the conclusions of
Marxism-Leninism, must be brought to the workers by the Party's agitation and
propaganda. And the workers can only take this theory up as
their own through their direct participation and experience in both economic and
political struggle, which confirms the correctness of the Party's
line. Only this can bring the masses of workers to
revolutionary conclusions.
Leader of All the Oppressed
. Fourth, only the working class can take up the role of leader of all the oppressed people, only the working class can guide all their manifold struggles into a coordinated attack on capital. The socialist revolution itself will be the outcome of the combination of all the important streams of discontent of all the oppressed: their merger into a raging river that overflows all capitalist restraints and inundates all opposition. This merger can only be brought about, when the right conditions present themselves, through the leading, forceful role of the proletariat.
. To play this role, the workers must of course be in these
movements. Once awakened to class consciousness and determined
to mold politics to its will, once participating in the political struggle not
just as individuals but as a class fighting in its revolutionary interest, the
working class will undoubtedly make sure that the anti-racist fight, the
anti-war struggle, the resistance to the oppression of working women, the
innumerable other struggles all target the capitalist class and increase the
prestige of the revolutionary movement among the widest masses.
Skeptical But Not Politically Active
. What is the situation today in this respect? In the main, the workers have not awakened to independent political activity. They usually provide numbers when major protest activities have been organized, but they participate under the leadership of the liberals, the trade union bureaucrats, and other pro-capitalist forces. Since few such activities have been organized lately, they have mainly been kept out of the oppositional political movements, except as scattered individuals. And they are not now bringing forward many rank-and-file activists who take responsibility for organizing the movement, and not just filling out the ranks of the half-hearted activities of the official leaders.
. At the same time, there is a wide political ferment in the
class. It is in the working class that one finds indifference
towards and opposition to the various bourgeois hysteria
campaigns. There is a generalized hatred for the
Reaganites. There is distrust of the
Democrats. And alongside this, there is a growing alienation
from the trade union officials. This ferment is shown, among
other things, by the positive reception we receive for our political leaflets
and for the Workers' Advocate, and also by the level
of political discussion in the work places.
A Typical Example
. A typical example of this situation was this year's June 14 anti-apartheid demonstration of 60,000 in New York City. Workers from the food industry, hospitals, city government, and the Teamsters Union were there in large numbers.
. One reason for this participation was that this was one of those rare occasions when a section of the trade union officialdom consented to call for mass participation in an anti-apartheid action. Yet, although the workers participated under the leadership of the trade union bureaucrats, this did not mean that the stand of the workers and the trade union hacks was the same. The contradiction between the capitulationist hacks and the rank-and-file workers would come out vividly at this action.
. What did the union bureaucrats do at the action? Their stand on the anti-apartheid struggle is not sincere, and they oppose the revolutionary movement in South Africa. Their participation in the demonstration was just a posture used to prop up their credibility among the workers. So at the demonstration there was the usual reformist attempt to make the rally a platform for the Democrats and their proposals for pressuring Botha into some minor reforms.
. But the working masses do not have these sentiments. As the Workers' Advocate reported:
. ". . . When the rally organizers tried to parade NY Mayor Ed Koch as a supporter of blacks in South Africa they suffered a fiasco. Koch is a notorious racist, well-known for unleashing a reign of police terror on the black people in New York. Thus when Koch tried to speak in Central Park, he was booed off the stage to the chants of `Koch Go Home!'
. "Various trade union bureaucrats were also booed. As well, the playing of the U.S. imperialist national anthem was loudly jeered. At the Harlem rally, sellout black congressman Charles Rangel received similar treatment." ("On the anniversary of the Soweto uprising -- 60,000 march against apartheid in New York", Workers' Advocate, July 1)
. There was also a favorable reception to our literature and slogans, as is
to be expected.
A Contradictory Situation
. This is a contradictory situation. Large-scale workers'
contingents generally don't participate in a political demonstration, except in
those rare instances when the trade union leaders mobilize for
it. This is as if workers will only agree with the politics
espoused by the union bureaucracy. Yet when there is mass
working class participation, there is a marked tendency for the workers to stomp
all over the bourgeois respectability, patriotism, and pro-Democratic Party
politics of these same leaders.
Mass Working Class Participation Strengthens
the
Oppositional Character of the Struggle
. This sentiment of the rank-and-file workers provides a hint of how large-scale participation of workers would strengthen the oppositional political movements today, such as the movements against apartheid and against U.S. aggression in Central America.
. These two movements are faced with major problems. For the time being, the official leaders are mainly reformists and liberals beholden to the Democratic Party; that is, to imperialism. They do their best to impose a tame and cringing style on the movement, a style that reeks of the liberal bourgeoisie and of a petty bourgeoisie aspiring to respectability and positions from the ruling class. For example, there were the respectable mink coat type protests of apartheid, and the tame, explicitly non-militant "die-ins" and silent vigils of the pacifists against aid to the contras. The petty bourgeois reformists complain about the various crimes of imperialism, but trail behind the pro-imperialist liberals all the same, adamant against doing anything that would cause the Democrats to be upset with them.
. Large-scale participation of the workers, not only as marchers but as
activists, would strengthen these movements in many ways. In
numbers certainly, but also in militancy, and in the moral authority that
working class participation gives. It would provide the crucial
base for challenging the liberal domination of the movement.
What Kind of Participation?
. Clearly, of course, the key question is not simply workers' participation, but precisely what kind of participation.
. The workers spontaneously gravitate toward militancy, class consciousness, hostility to the demagogy of opportunists. The example of the N.Y. anti-apartheid demonstration is fairly typical.
. But there is a big difference between a class groping around, spontaneously
gravitating toward militancy, and a class that is standing up for class
struggle, a class whose advanced section is putting forward its own conscious
revolutionary goals. The more the workers' participation is
based on independent, revolutionary politics, the more the oppositional
character and striking force of the political movements are reinforced and
sharpened.
How Is the Giant To Be Awakened?
. The question is posed: how is this to be accomplished in
practice? It requires dedication and determination on the part of the advanced,
conscious section of the working class -- and from the activists who have come
to understand where the class forces are that can bring down the capitalist
hell. What is needed are (1) a more favorable mood toward
political action among the workers, so that the workers both demand mass action
and bring forward their own rank-and-file activists; and (2)
the continued all-round work of the Party to build up the workers' independent
political movement.
The Objective Situation is Maturing
. A more favorable mood, a deeper felt desire for political protest, the determination to become organizers of the movement despite overtime, overwork, company spies, and a thousand and one obstacles, will certainly emerge in connection with the deeper economic crisis in the country, with the throwing of more people into impoverishment and desperation. As Lenin remarked, the inevitability of revolution stems from the fact that tens of millions of people say that "Rather than live and starve, we prefer to die for the revolution." ("Report at the 5th All-Russian Congress of Soviets, Collected Works," vol. 27, p. 518)
. Here too it would be a simplification to just leave it at the economic
factor. The economic decay of capitalism goes hand in hand with
political crises. And the spontaneous turn of the working class
to struggle is also inseparably connected with political
factors: the youth again being shoved into Vietnam-style wars
of aggression; the exposure of the government in connection
with racist outrages in Soweto or in Brooklyn; the police
shooting down, say, strikers or unemployed demonstrators; and
so on. The will to act, to protest, to demonstrate also matures
in these life and death political situations. These are also
spiritual life and death questions where the individual feels that there is no
alternative to struggle, except that of losing all self-respect and
dignity.
The Spontaneous Factor Can Not Substitute for Organization
. But a more favorable mood for struggle among the masses by itself solves little without organization. There are many examples of mass upsurges that came and went. The struggle to organize, the struggle for consciousness, determines a great deal of the fate of the mass clashes. The prior organization of a workers' political party to provide a core of somewhat experienced leaders is invaluable to provide organizational ability, theory, political understanding and depth, skill at combating opportunism, tactical knowledge, and so forth. And this party we must build up now, even though the masses have not fully awakened. Furthermore, all the preparatory work of today, the mass struggles and the organizational work, is inseparably connected with helping to create a more favorable mood for struggle.
. To the non-political person, it looks like Catch 22: you must not wait for the inevitable mass upsurge to build the party; but prior to the upsurge, few workers and activists come forward to take up consistent revolutionary work. And, on the non-political level, the only way party building is viewed is in terms of constant numerical growth.
. But even in this period of ebb in the mass movement, the Party has been able to find ways to maintain contact with the masses. This has required the Party to sharpen its understanding of theory, of tactics, of agitational and organizational methods, and these lessons are precisely the ones that will be invaluable for the future struggle. The Party has gained a multi-faceted experience in the work to build up the workers' independent political movement in this difficult time. And it has also utilized this experience to help sum up the rich experiences of the mass upsurge of the 60's and early 70's so that the hard-won lessons of this period will not be lost.
. It is through all this work that we are maintaining a network of ties to the workers, to the masses. And the ties and mass influence built now are important for the fate of the revolutionary trend that will be kicked loose later. When revolutionary sentiment rises among the masses, new advanced elements are buoyed up by the mass sentiment and come forward to devote themselves to struggle. But everything is not peaches and cream.
. There are dead ends, and there is an intense struggle against disorganization, against opportunist adventurers, against the dead hand of bourgeois theories and practices, even against the view that nothing can be done because the masses are too backward. Every new wave of workers and activists has to learn the lessons of struggle in their own way. But the work can go faster or slower. Without the preparatory work of today, the movement of the future will be left to the agony of learning everything from scratch, and it will suffer the pain of having to repeat again and again all sorts of avoidable mistakes. It will inherit nothing from the past but a mass of mistakes and opportunist prejudices to repudiate.
. The flip side of this is that with preparatory work today, with the
establishment of an unbroken tradition of struggle from the past upsurge to the
future, the stage will be set for the fastest development of revolutionary
organization, for the maximum extension of the revolutionary organization of the
working class.
Bring Politics Into the Factories
. Our work to free the working class movement from bourgeois political influence focuses on the factories. This is the center of the work to organize the working class. This must not only be the scene of the economic struggle, but also a base for approaching the workers politically and organizing participation in the political struggle.
. We cannot build a pro-party trend in the factories without drawing the
advanced workers into the political mass movements. Economic
agitation by itself is too narrow. Since the latter 1970's in
particular, the Party has acquired much experience in drawing the workers at the
plants into the Party's political campaigns, whether they be the
anti-imperialist struggle, the anti-racist struggle, or agitation against the
electioneering of the bourgeois parties. We also acquired a lot
of experience fighting against the reactionary anti-busing
movement.
The Anti-Racist Movement and the Building of the Pro-Party Trend
. For example, the Party fought hard against the racist anti-busing
movement. Our work in this struggle put us in the center of the
political motion in the working class in various cities when this issue was hot
(Boston, Seattle, Louisville, and others). And there were times
when this work was instrumental in gathering together the pro-party
trend. In general, we have experience in the fight against
racist attacks and how this relates to the building of the pro-party
trend. The 1984 speech at
the Second National Conference on our work at Roswell Hospital in Buffalo
discussed the relationship between the city-wide anti-racist movement and the
building of the pro-party trend. And the previous speech on the
John Smith case has already dealt with some of these issues in
depth.
In the 1980's
. By the early 1980's, we had built up literature distribution networks in quite a few work places. We once again launched various local workers' newspapers and drew around them rank-and-file workers who suggested articles, participated in editing sessions, and so forth. Many pro-party workers showed activity with us in the anti-nuclear and anti-draft movements. In turn, this activity strengthened the work of the party and pro-party trend in the economic struggle at the work place.
, This work suffered setbacks in the face of the large-scale layoffs, plant closings, and general dislocation of the economic crisis of the 80's. There is also the ebb in the political mass movement.
. It has required the flexibility and steadfastness of the Party to counter
these conditions. This Conference has discussed the methods our
Party has used to maintain and improve contact with the masses and to stay at
the center of the flurries of struggle that continue to break out including the
present re-emergence of the strike movement. Nor has the Party
accepted the betrayal by the opportunist leaders that has hamstrung the
political mass movements in these years of the Reagan
administration.
Unceasing Political Agitation
. And what is the situation today with respect to our efforts to draw workers into the city-wide political movements, such as the actions protesting South African apartheid and U.S. aggression in Central America? Just as our Party has refused to fold its hands in front of the dislocation in the factories, it has not backed down from revolutionary agitation in the face of the reformist sabotage of the political movements. All our branches have vigorous work going on the burning political issues.
. This work is taken to the factories and work places. Through leaflets, local newspapers, the distribution of the Workers' Advocate, discussions with active workers, and other means, the political issues are constantly brought to the workers. It's true that in the present conditions only a small number of workers in each city take part in open independent political action. But in the deadly political lull of recent years, this too is significant and verifies that contact is being maintained with the masses.
. Now, it's understood that this work is difficult. It's not stretching it too much to joke that the first problem in some cities is how to find the political movement. Of course, the situation varies from city to city and in different movements.
. But along a broad front, the branches of our Party are defying these and
other difficulties. We are persisting in the crucial work of
politically mobilizing the working class. A few examples of
this follow.
An Anti-Apartheid Action
. For one thing, our Party has called its own actions. It is true that today the workers are quite hesitant to come out to activities in defiance of the official leaders. But the work of a political trend can either reinforce this hesitation or help break through it.
. One example was in the anti-apartheid solidarity movement where we organized a march and rally in a working class community and centered work on a factory where the Party had strong influence in the economic struggle. The leaflets of the Party in preparation for this action were well-received, and workers put anti-apartheid stickers up on the production line -- a sort of moving industrial marquee. The community too was quite supportive. Afterwards, when comrades approached contacts in the community about the seventh anniversary of the Nicaraguan revolution, some of them suggested another demonstration as part of the campaign against U.S. aid to the contras.
. About a dozen youth from the community came out to this march. Some other people from the community came to the rally. Yet the workers from the factory didn't come (except for one who came on the wrong day). On one hand, the workers in the factory and the community were excited about the action. But on the other hand, the factory supporters of the Party's work were not yet willing to come to an independent action, organized outside the channels of the official misleaders and trade union bureaucrats.
. What was the balance sheet from this action in terms of drawing the workers
from the particular factory into the political action? Vulgarly speaking, it was
a shutout. But in fact it helped establish the idea of
political action in the community, and it carried the anti-apartheid movement
into the factories where our Party works. It was a link in the
chain of consistent agitation in the working class. Meanwhile
the reformists and liberals in the anti-apartheid movement were doing nothing in
this city but activities aimed at promoting the prestige of the mink coat
crowd.
In Support of the Nicaraguan People
. Another good example of the Party's independent actions took place this year in Chicago for the July 19 anniversary of Nicaragua's revolution. The comrades organized two simultaneous propaganda marches through working class areas to a park for a rally. These marches created some excitement and had positive effect along their routes. A number of workers from the community attended the rally. One Salvadoran had been at an opportunist-organized picnic earlier that day, and he was incensed at what he described as their "selling out of the revolution and of the FMLN".
. One of the significant things was that pro-party Mexican workers
participated in the action and were able to directly experience the progressive
sentiment of the American masses against Ronbo's imperialism. It is extremely important for
the workers of different nationalities to be brought into the general movement
as well as taking part in the revolutionary movement of their
nationality. There is no other way than through political
action for such activists to see the class struggle that exists in this
country. And if each nationality is kept in its own shell,
there is ultimately no pro-party trend.
Independent Contingents in Reformist-Dominated Actions
. The previous two examples concern actions that the Party called. But there are also opportunities to draw the workers into the political movement when the reformist coalitions call demonstrations -- provided these actions have at least something of a mass character. Of course, the point here is not to organize the workers behind the reformist politics, but instead to unfold revolutionary work that appeals to the progressive sentiment of the masses at these actions. Our Party puts together anti-imperialist or other progressive contingents for such demonstrations all the time.
. Our Party does not seek to keep the workers ignorant of the existence of
the opportunists, but to have the workers understand the struggle of trends and
take a conscious role in it. Besides organizing contingents at
reformist-called demonstration, we have also brought active workers to various
opportunist-called meetings of interest so that they can see for themselves what
the situation in the left is today.
Use Every Occasion to Develop the Political Interest of the Workers
. There are other ways to draw the workers into politics in the prevailing
conditions, even if at a low level. In connection with our
Party's various delegations to or visits of Nicaragua, good use was made of
slide shows in living room presentations suited for workers who would not go so
far as to attend a much more formal, public meeting. Less-close
contacts were visited and shown photographs of the tour. These
seem like only a low level of activity, but carried on unceasingly they help
develop the political consciousness of our contacts and develop our political
ties during this period. Comrades in one area have been using a
VCR to show contacts various videos, such as one from Nicaragua and one on the
Spanish Civil War.
Bring the Movement to the Workers
. As well as drawing the workers into the movement, we can sometimes succeed in bringing the movement to the workers. In this category are some of our propaganda marches in working class neighborhoods. There are other examples as well.
. A particularly interesting demonstration of this type occurred in Berkeley on June 17 this year. (The July Workers' Advocate reported on this in the article "Bay Area activists take militant anti-apartheid actions to the masses". ) There was a "BART alert" called by activists around Campaign Against Apartheid (CAA). A debate took place inside CAA on what kind of demonstration to have. It has become somewhat traditional for these "BART alerts" to march around the commercial district of Berkeley and onto campus. Our comrades however argued for a break from this tradition in favor of a march through a poor, working class neighborhood of Berkeley and north Oakland. After much debate the majority of the new wave of activists in the CAA decided to go among the workers. As a result, 150 activists took to the streets with such slogans as "Revolution yes! Apartheid no! Death to apartheid blow by blow!" Slogans like this were shouted non-stop for a number of miles. You can imagine the amount of enthusiasm and excitement this caused in the neighborhood: families on porches with clenched fists, youth stopping a soccer game to line up at the fence and cheer, hundreds of our leaflets passed out along the route.
. Perhaps one of the most significant things is the way that this action
concretely demonstrated to the new activists that the path forward for the mass
movement is precisely to appeal directly to the working class with revolutionary
politics. Such experience of warm response from the working
class blows away tons of anti-working class slander used by social-democrats and
others to try to keep the activists' hopes pinned on getting liberal charity
from the Democrats in Congress. And it showed how to use
militant mass actions as an important means of broadening and deepening the
movement.
Pressures to Downplay Political Agitation
. These are just a few examples.
. This work can only be maintained by remaining vigilant against the pressures to downplay the work of drawing the workers into political struggle. Even the present re-emergence of the strike movement can add to these pressures. The political ferment, the hatred for Reagan's policies, while widespread, is generally not red-hot; that is, it is not at the point where workers are anxious to take militant political action in defiance of the class collaborationism of the trade union bureaucrats and reformists. At the same time, fights against concessions are becoming more numerous.
. Adding these two things up, the economic front can tend to look more
exciting. This acts as a pressure toward narrowing our work in
the factories to only the economic struggle. If we don't stay
real conscious of this, then we could be sucked in the direction of narrow trade
unionism. All sorts of problems could then
arise: from forgetting the role of the Party in the
work; and forgetting the role of political
agitation; to searching for a magical organizational form that
is supposedly all that is needed for big successes in
organizing.
Conditions Always Exist for Political Agitation
. It is important to remember that the conditions always exist for political agitation of one sort or another. And political agitation is not only an essential part of any serious political struggle, but it is also a form of drawing the workers into the political movement, even if at present the workers often stay at the lower level of activity of not combining the reading and discussion of leaflets with mass political actions and independent organization.
. In the last few years, we have become more adept at tapping into the existing political ferment. And even the style of our leaflets has definitely improved. There is, for instance, use of expressions that the workers themselves use, which makes the literature more accessible to them. When the neo-revisionists talked about how they used "the workers' language", they were using this phrase to forbid revolutionary politics and, in reality, to speak only the language of vulgar trade unionism (not to mention vulgarity itself). They were so consumed with making themselves more acceptable to one and all that they forgot Marxism and the revolution. We refused to do this. We knew that when the political foundations are weak, and you start becoming infatuated with questions of style, you are quickly lost in the wilderness. Our concern was to re-establish a communist, a Marxist-Leninist tradition in the U.S. first and foremost, and only on this basis could one find a way to make revolutionary politics more accessible to the masses, gradually cut down on the rhetorical buzzwords, utilize more popular expressions, and so on. And so, in a way, the increasingly popular style of our agitation in the last few years is one more vindication of these views and the fight against neo-revisionism.
. What political agitation requires is sensitivity to the mass political
currents. Then one will always find that there is some current
Reaganite campaign to denounce, such as the bombing of Libya or repression in
the name of drug testing. But there are other, perhaps less
obvious openings as well.
Combining Anti-Imperialist Agitation with the Economic Struggle
. Let me provide an example from the large shipyards in Seattle. For a number of years, virtually all of the work has been Navy warships. Here, where the workers' everyday life is connected to imperialist war preparations, there is also consistent interest in anti-imperialist agitation. Whether it was the anti-draft agitation of 1980 or the exposure of Reagan for bombing Libya last Spring, the distribution of leaflets is generally fairly high. And this is in the war industry itself. (To those who equate industrial workers with right-wing rednecks, they'd think the figures were astronomical . . .).
. But there is another angle from which to try to tap into the anti-militarist sentiment. The Navy has been actively and openly pushing for wage concessions so that the shipyard capitalists can retain the same or better profit levels while the Navy gets more warship for the buck. This economic struggle, the exposure of the role of the Navy in the concessions offensive, has been used as a springboard for developing agitation directly against the imperialist political purposes of these Naval warships.
. The combination of the economic and political agitation in this war
industry is particularly useful for showing to the more politically backward
section of workers the anti-working class nature of
U.S. war preparations, using the economic
struggle as a starting point. (Of course, whenever possible, we
spread the news of upcoming anti-war and anti-intervention demonstrations in the
shipyards. The actual turnout has been very low, but important
ideas are communicated in the process of calling on the workers to
participate.)
It Is Communism That Gives the Working Class Its Political Voice
Comrades,
. We are the only organized, nation-wide political force in the U.S. that concentrates on drawing the working class into political activity in its own, revolutionary interests. Only the supporters of class struggle, of whom the revolutionary Marxist-Leninists are the core, want the working class to bring forward its own activists who struggle and organize in defiance of the pro-capitalist forces. The pro-capitalist forces simply want the workers to be cannon-fodder in wars, voting fodder in elections, and servile camp followers who fill out the numbers of bourgeois rallies. They don't want the working class to have its own voice, for this would spell the beginning of the end for them. They don't want truly mass working class participation in the political movement, because the workers would tend to go out of their control. They organize to keep the militant working class out of the movements; for the time being, they rarely even organize events at which the working class is recruited in any numbers.
. The AFL-CIO basically just wants the workers to vote Democratic every two or four years. The black bourgeois politicians try to confine the black workers to being concerned only with getting the privileges, posts, and contracts for the upper strata; nowadays, only rarely do they call for the masses to come to sizeable demonstrations. Meanwhile the social-democrats and reformist liquidators try to eke out an existence by currying favor with the labor bureaucrats, the liberals, and the black reformists.
. The coalitions formed by the reformists and liberals occasionally appeal for worker participation. But when the reformists talk of "labor" they are generally thinking about the labor bureaucrats. They only want the rank-and-file workers for numbers, while they are excited over their contacts with the trade union bureaucrats. They demand that the coalitions and demonstration be acceptable and useful to the corrupt and imperialist labor traitors in the AFL-CIO, to the cynical imperialist politicians, to the church officialdom, to the liberal bourgeoisie of every stripe. And then the reformists (including the would-be Marxist liquidators) congratulate themselves for having the right tactics for organizing the "workers".
. Things have gone so far that the reformist-dominated actions usually display a lack of interest in any serious leafleting of factories and working class communities. Sometimes it is not even felt necessary to publicize the actions to the masses at all.
. But even when the reformists do organize workers for some actions, they
seek to keep the workers politically enslaved. This can be seen
in the political content of the actions called by these coalitions, in the
speakers on the platform, in the urge for respectability and big-name liberal
figures, in the plans to lobby Congress for some Democratic Party
plan. No, rather than encourage the working class and activists
to rise up in struggle, it is much more to the liking of the reformists to gut
demonstrations of all oppositional politics.
Utilize All Actions With a Mass Character
. Nevertheless it is possible for us to take part in such demonstrations,
that is, those with a mass character, in a way that helps increase the political
consciousness of the workers. We unite with the sentiment of
the masses to oppose the crimes of the bourgeoisie. And these
actions can be important arenas for clarifying the difference between class
struggle and reformism to the workers and to thus provide them with important
schooling in how to fight for independent politics.
Soweto Day 1985 in Seattle
. An interesting example took place on Soweto Day, June 16, 1985, in Seattle. The reformists had called a demonstration to march through the middle of the black community. It sounds rather militant, and it was a high point of their activity, but it was basically the result of a factional fight between different sections of reformists. These groups had been holding typical mink coat protests for half a year by then. But in the struggle between the different reformist liquidators as to who should control the anti-apartheid movement, an attempt had to be made to appear to have something to do with the community. This was particularly because the spring of '85 had seen the outbreak of campus actions across the country, many of which went beyond the tame confines the liberals had in mind.
. So the reformists called for a Soweto Day march through the black community. But this did not mean that they wanted to concentrate on organizing the masses for such a demonstration and to give militant appeals? Heavens no! Can you imagine having spirited black workers demanding revolutionary change? Such a thing could get out of hand! This would throw into jeopardy all the years of reformist "united front" work to become respectable in the eyes of the Democratic Party locally.
. The result was that the reformists had little interest in doing much public work for the demo, with two exceptions: 1) they posted up a few announcements; 2) they arranged for the march to begin at the main church of the black bourgeoisie and petty bourgeoisie, and for the keynote speaker at this rally point to be the Church's pastor, a reformist political figure in the black community. We however intended to use the occasion to let the masses express their militant anti-apartheid sentiment and to render support for the revolutionary struggle in South Africa. We mobilized to the maximum. We published a leaflet with a stunning poster on the back. We did an impressive plastering of sections of the city with it. We ran the leaflet through our usual areas: factories, door to door in the black community (including the key high school), the University of Washington and a community college. We sought to draw our contacts into all this work.
. Meanwhile, the reformists (including the "Marxist" liquidators) were fuming at all this and denouncing us (behind our backs) to all who would listen -- for trying to prevent people from coming to the demonstration! How is this? We had a 1/4" square hammer and sickle on our poster! (It can be noted that the hammer and sickle represents to those resolute "Marxists" of the "Line of March" organization and other liquidators what the Cross does to Dracula). Of course the real reason for their frenzy was not that the workers are afraid of the hammer and sickle, but that the liberals and Democratic Party politicians are. They feared that our agitation in support of revolution in South Africa, and its response among the masses, would damage their own carefully constructed alliance with the liberals, the black bourgeois politicians, preachers, and other reformists. The coalition of course, "delicately" avoided any reference to "overthrowing" the South African racists or "revolution".
. And what happened at the action? Something like 300-500 people came to the demonstration. The black preacher did not call on his parishioners to attend the rally, and hundreds of them in their three-piece suits and fur coats walked right past the rally with their noses in the air! Then, the preacher's speech focused on denouncing, not the racists, but communism (!) in South Africa, railing that blacks did not need communists telling them what to do! So the reformists subordinated everything to pleasing the black preachers, who then kicked them squarely in the teeth for their trouble.
. On the march itself, the militant and revolutionary slogans introduced by
our Party were the ones taken up with the most enthusiasm by the
marchers. The same goes for our picket signs.
The march was pretty militant. The masses along the route were
enthusiastic.
In Closing
. One final point. In the last few years, at a time when the political movement has generally been held in check, nevertheless the party's political work, its agitation and tactics, have advanced in several directions. Perhaps one could say that because the movement has been down, we have had to advance our agitation and tactics.
. One can note more sophistication in combining higher and lower forms of struggle. There is also more skill in popularizing the style and language of our leaflets, making them much more readable for the workers.
. And we are learning to maneuver better, so as to unite with the militant aspirations of the masses despite the diehard opposition thrown up by the reformist and class-collaborationist leaders. To build a pro-party trend, the workers must have experience with the treachery and overall vileness of opportunism. We are improving our skill at using a variety of tactics that give the workers this experience.
. All this work to draw the workers into the political struggle are
indispensable preparations for the future revolutionary
upsurge. <>
Notes -- August 2008
(WAS) The Workers' Advocate, and Workers' Advocate Supplement, which carried additional materials including many of the longer theoretical articles, were publications of the Marxist-Leninist Party of the US. The MLP, which was founded on Jan. 1, 1980 and dissolved in November 1993, stemmed from the anti-revisionist movement of activists who wanted to push forward the mass struggles and root them in the working class, saw Marxism as an essential guide for the revolutionary struggle, and rejected the sell-out reformism of the official pro-Soviet communist parties. It was opposed to both Soviet revisionism and Trotskyism. Its roots went back in the mass movements of the 1960s, such as the anti-racist, anti-war, student, women's, and workers' movements, and the WA itself was published from 1969 to 1993. The cause of anti-revisionist communism is upheld today by the Communist Voice Organization, and the Communist Voice is a theoretical journal which is a successor to the Workers' Advocate. (Return to text)
(Botha) P.W. Botha, brutal, diehard head of the apartheid government of South Africa for years: Prime Minister from 1978 to 1984, and President from 1984 to 1989. (Text)
(Ronbo) A pun on
Ronald Reagan and Rambo. (Text)
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