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I have been reading Trotsky on France and also Deutscher's account of Trotsky in France and his reaction to the comrades there. The specific question I was seeking an answer for was Andrew's comment that Corbyn was the UK's Leon Blum. To be frank my first reaction to Andrew was "I wish". I was taking a break from the reading and mulling over the dilemma posed for Leftists by people like Blum, Allende and Corbyn. Blum and Allende got into office and were in a position to struggle for power. But both failed. Allende was overthrown and assassinated by the brutes and Blum ended up in Buchenwald. In both cases the price of failure was the rise of Fascist reaction. Trotsky is very clear and correct on Blum and the disastrous outcomes of compromise. But as Lou points out he did not have a good record of building an alternative. It seems to me that the dialectic is that those with a correct line on Blum and Allende and also Corbyn are never going to be in the situation where they can do something about it. Richard Seymour is objectively correct, for example, on the problems facing Corbyn. Even if he were to win an election, and I increasingly think that is a possibility, he is unlikely to be able to face down the tide of reaction that will greet his arrival in No 10 Downing Street. The banks, the Army, the media and his own party not least of all would move against him if he tried socialist solutions to Britain's problems. The reason is that he would be threatening the interests of the ruling class and they would strike viciously. Corbyn has no intention, I think, of threatening the rule of the capitalist class. In all likelihood he belongs to the same Socialist tradition as Blum. It is a tradition that goes back to Jean Jaurès and probably Lasalle. It is far superior in decency to the types that now call themselves social democrats or members of the Labour Movement. Yet at the decisive moment, they cannot strike the decisive blow against the ruling class. They seek instead mutual forgiveness from the master class and not an end to master slave relationships. Instead of achieving mutual forgiveness it all ends in blood and tears. To speak in such a way is to condemn oneself to total marginality. One can respond to that by doing what ISO under Cliff's direct influence did in the 1980s and ever since. That is to expel anyone who would not adhere rigidly to the party line and do imitations of the Bolsheviks. Cliff sought to isolate and insulate his followers from the great move to the Right in the late 70s and early 80s. the result was they became a caricature of a socialist, turning up at huge spontaneous demonstrations with hundreds of placards and pretend that one is a more important political force than one is. The insulation and isolation means that one slips all too easily into the role of the prophet who stands out side the city gates and denounces the traitors and reformists. It reminds me of the lines from Burns great poem Tam O' Chanter and his wife Kate. While Tam was drinking and enjoying life she was sat at home - [a] sulky sullen dame. Gathering her brows like gathering storm, Nursing her wrath to keep it warm. While Kate nursed her wrath, the radical Left nurses its objective analysis. In both cases life passes by. It is worth recalling that Trotsky's approach to France was to urge his followers to join the Socialist Party. For me any socialist in the UK worthy of the name should now be in Momentum. Not as a sneaky entryist who walks around feeling that he knows more than anyone else and tries to pinch a few members for one's little sect. The more productive role is to be someone who is genuinely committed to pushing Corbynism as far as it will go and then trying to go further. Corbynism is now the only game in town in the UK. Its defeat would be a terrible blow to the working class of Europe and the world. That I feel is what is at stake and why we should continue to discuss it all. comradely Gary _________________________________________________________ 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
