September 2024
Party time
Submitted by AKAshug on Thu, 2023-11-23 18:09
Internationalist Notes in the final paragraph of their article "Capitalism Promises Annihalation" writes: "Only international proletarian revolution, led by the proletariat’s class party, and the creation of a global system of workers’ councils present the escape from climate hell." Presumably the formulation that the revolution will be 'led' by 'the class party' is just clumsy phrasing in an otherwise good article. However, the idea of an international party being created in the looming near-future that promises climate breakdown, economic crisis, and war is a hard one to find credible. The calls for an International in CWO articles sounds much less Dave Spart and much more serious (the ICT's support of internationalism as fundamental to NWBCW work with other groupings is a welcome move away from the 'accept-all-our-positions-or-fuck-off' approach that has scarred the left-com milieu).
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Hello AKAshug,
Hello AKAshug,
The end of the IN article isn't anything different from conclusions that the CWO or BC have stated in their agitational material. Additionally, the Party and the International are the same. We also obviously don't see the creation of the class party, nor of world proletarian revolution, as something that we can point to as something in the immediate offing; at the same time, we continue to affirm that international proletarian revolution (which will of necessity be lead by the proletariat's political party) is the only way that humanity can exit from the mounting barbarism of the generalization of imperialist war, ecological collapse, economic crisis, health emergencies, etc. As for the comment about NWBCW and the holier-than-thou attitude, we work with other groups on the basis of internationalism summarized by the five points:
but this does not at all signify that the sum of our politics becomes reduced to just this broad internationalist outline.
"For the self-organised
Im going to agree with AKAshug's point about the word 'led' It is not at all what you normally say, indeed you contradict this term yourself in the above quote. The revolution will be led by the working class itself in its workers councils. The party will have a pollitical role to 'guide' the working class maybe 'advise' the working class and be in the vanguard politically but i cant see it be able to leading the the working class ie telling it what to do, is something we have surely learnt is not what is wanted. Maybe this is a problem of terminology as AKAshug suggests but it is an important point as 'to lead' has significant connotations.
A month's passed, so it would
A month's passed, so it would appear you're not getting an answer from the editor, Link. At least you're not being patronised though. Maybe I should have pointed out to him/her that I've read every fucking article the CWO have published since 1975.
Apologies for the unnecessary
Apologies for the unnecessary tone.
As long as we understand that
As long as we understand that the party (i.e. the future international) doesn't constitute a power over and above the working class, then we are on the same page and whether the party "guides" or "leads" becomes a bit of a semantic discussion. For example, the ICT Platform states:
The term "lead" is obviously not used here in the sense that the working class is a mindless mass following the orders of some self-elected political elite. Instead, the party provides a lead in the struggle to the degree that workers identify their interests with the political perspectives that the party puts forward. It is not a one way street.
Seems to be the latest in
Seems to be the latest in what could be a longer list of "define the word/s"/ Define it one way, define it another... The word "lead" could be interpreted as putting a party in power. for sure. But I think anyone who has followed ICT output knows this is not our position and in For Commnism it is pretty much spelt out. In one sense we are looking at a leading role for the party, but that is not the same as party rule. Party members will attempt to gain the mandate and even if subject to the same rules as anyone else, I think it highly likely that the leading organ of a genuine proletarian power be populated in the main by members of a party we would recognise as a genuine communist party. In fact, it is not impossible that the highest organ of the workers councils system be occupied entirely by members of one party, buit this is not the same as simply putting the party in power. The mechanisms of election and recall would still be in place. The result of these mechanisms would be entirely in the hands of the participating proletarians. If they recognse themselves in our future party, so be it. Such is my understanding.
Re.....a welcome move away
Re.....a welcome move away from the 'accept-all-our-positions-or-go away' approach that has scarred the left-com milieu.Obviously not a direct quote.I wonder what the most accomodating umbrella organisation would be. No war but the class war is pretty accommodating but, perhaps there is a slightly less onerous one. AGAINST CAPITALISM. It would entail a definition of capitalism and the groups or individuals signing up would be against it. Dont know if it is of any practical value but seems to be the ultimate in that approach which might prove to be a vehicle for circulating ideas to a wider audience. It possibly has the advantage over NWBTCW as it is not reduced to any single issue, for example, it would be equally concerned with the environment, social inequaity, war, and all the other ills relating to the pursuit of profit. Any joint statement would have to achieve a cetain level of acceptance within the organisation, and dissent would be accepted within limits I am not going to attempt to establish here because it is no more than a thought that struck me as of interest and a means to bypass separations which seem to me to be a bad thing.