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LP: “Instead of relying solely on "Ultraleftism, an Infantile Disorder", you need to read Lenin's extensive writings about Russian political parties. He drew a clear class line between the Cadets and so-called petty-bourgeois parties like the SR’s.” Of course I didn’t meant to imply he ignored or we should ignore the relationships of various parties to various class forces, but even there, Lenin did not use the “clear class line” to refuse any electoral support or relationship, as one can see from the 1912 conference resolution he worked on and supported (https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1912/ 6thconf/efd.htm), which called for “exposing the counter-revolutionary views of the bourgeois liberals (headed by the Cadet Party)” while still saying in specific circumstances an “agreement must be concluded to share the seats” with them. And of course we have to orient ourselves based on reflection and analysis, not proof-texting, which is why I said: “One can make an argument for this idea of voting or working with based solely on the class-basis of parties and ignoring everything else, but it should at least be made with the awareness that this isn't what Lenin argued”. However true “The Democratic Party has been a dead-end for the left” may be as a summary statement, it is not a guide to tactical and strategic questions IMO. In my judgement, just as much as opportunism toward the Democrats has been a dead end, the far left’s general refusal to even consider the kind of tactics and strategy reflects in the 1912 resolution above for instance has isolated it and empowered those opportunists. -Jason On Sat, Jun 30, 2018 at 5:39 PM, Louis Proyect <l...@panix.com> wrote: > On 6/30/18 9:27 AM, Jason wrote: > >> >> One can make an argument for this idea of voting or working with based >> solely on the class-basis of parties and ignoring everything else, but it >> should at least be made with the awareness that this isn't what Lenin >> argued and I haven't seen anyone do that: he was for the CP working in and >> voting for the British Labor Party and he thought that party was a >> bourgeois party. >> > > Instead of relying solely on "Ultraleftism, an Infantile Disorder", you > need to read Lenin's extensive writings about Russian political parties. He > drew a clear class line between the Cadets and so-called petty-bourgeois > parties like the SR's. > > In terms of Labour and the Social Democratic parties, it is a mistake to > overemphasize the stuff about supporting them like a rope supports a > hanging man. Keep in mind that around the same time, the Comintern was > developing theories of the workers government and the united front that > stressed the common goals of the Communists and socialists. > > Finally, we have to develop our own understanding of the Democratic Party > and not cite Lenin chapter and verse. It was probably a mistake for me to > give that impression since as most of you know, I regard the creation of > the Comintern to be a disaster. > > The Democratic Party has been a dead-end for the left. Every time there is > a new surge of support for some charismatic figure, the left ends up > holding the bag. Jason is probably too young to remember the Jackson > campaign but I was in CISPES in the early 80s when it capitulated totally > to his campaign. Everything hinged on his campaign that was far more > inspiring than Bernie Sanders's frankly. The Maoists and the Marcyites went > full-tilt boogie for both Jackson and Harold Washington in Chicago. Within > a few years, they were distant memories. > > > > > _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
