Comrade Reimann, you apply the theory of permanent revolution to the Arab Spring and hold that the uprisings failed because they didn't move to socialism. And you present the Local Coordinating Committes in Syria as having the potential to be analogous to Soviets.
But those assessments ignore the actual state of the movement. You don't know what should be done in the a democratic uprising that has no chance of being a socialist movement, so you simply imagine the movement could become socialist if only someone put forward a socialist program. You write in you article that the problem was that the Syrian uprising didn't begin a socialist revolution. And you present the LCCs (Local Coordinating Committees) as having the possibilitiy of playing a role similar to Soviets. This is fantasy. The uprisings of the Arab Spring were extremely important, but they were not socialist movements, and the working class had neither the influence, the organization, or the consciousness to put a socialist class character on the overall movement. For that matter, the socialist section of the activists didn't have sufficient influence or organization among the working class itself. LCCs were very important, but they represented the will of a hetereogeneous mass of the oppressed population rising against dictatorship. Your article on Syria contains a good deal of descriptive material of history, but it illustrates that applying the theory of permanent revolution to Syria gives rise to fantasy. It ignores the actual state of the class forces in Syria and, in essence, replaces this by giving extraordinary power to change the world to "a revolutionary socialist program and strategy". It states: "The pan-Arab rise of the Arab Spring shows the potential for a regional anti-capitalist revolt right from the very start. A revolutionary socialist program and strategy would have been emulated in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya as well as elsewhere in the region." So after all the talk about class forces, you end up with the idea that if only a proper socialist banner had been raised, the Arab world would have risen. It doesn't matter what the state of the class forces were. It was only the banner that was missing. How do you prove that the LCCs were revolutionary committees that could have taken up the role, essentially, of Soviets? Your argue that " the LCCs tended to take on the tasks not only of organizing the revolution, but also of the state in general." But revolutionary mass organization can happen in any profound social movement where the masses rise up, whether it is a democratic or a socialist uprising. The heroic and exceptional activity of the LCCs is no proof at all that the LCCs could become socialist bodies. Nor is the use by the LCCs of various social measures. The working class faced the need both to strengthen the overall movement and to develop an independent working class section of it. But given the situation, even developing the rudiments of an independent working class section of the movement would be extremely difficult. Both the Stalinist and Trotskyist theories betray the democratic uprising. The Stalinist theories by recoiling from radical actions and from infringing on the bourgeoisie, the Trotskyist by closing their eyes to the actual situation in the uprising, its overall democratic nature, and the real tasks needed to develop and stengthen an independent socialist movement in the midst of the uprising. It isn't a matter of choice whether the overall movement is democratic or socialist. And it retards the socialist struggle of the working class to pretend a democratic movement would be socialist if only it put forward a sufficiently revolutionary banner. On 25 Nov 2020 at 6:43, John Reimann wrote: > > It is interesting how so many on the left, even those who consider > themselves to be Trotskyists, > waltz right up to the issue of socialism and revolutions like the > Arab Spring, and then they waltz > right back again. I'm not saying that Gopal considers himself to be > a Trotskyist, but what he's > saying is a perfect example. Also, involved in this dance is the > issue of which class holds state > power and how to get it. Regarding Syria: Gopal mentions the issue > of armed struggle, but what > he ignores is the fact that the soldiers in Syria started to revolt. > That was huge, but what didn't > happen was a move to integrate the soldiers into the revolution > itself. There were the Local > Coordinating Committees (LCC's), which were in effect revolutionary > councils, but except for in a > few scattered instances there was not a move to get the soldiers to > send their representatives into > the LCC's. So, when the rank and file soldiers revolted, a whole > layer of Assadist officers went > over with them. These were officers not only at the lowest levels > but up to mid level also. This > ensured that the soldiers did not come under the control of the more > radical forces of the > revolution. > > Then there is one last issue: A direct appeal to workers in > surrounding countries, especially > Turkey. In other words, internationalism in action not just words. > > So, yes, the theory of permanent revolution is real and bears > applying to today, nut just to be kept > on the top shelf of a six foot high bookshelf to be dusted off when > we like to discuss some dry, > dusty bit of historical trivia. > > Here is a more in depth view of how it applies to Syria. Among other > things, it draws on some > reports of how the LCC's tended to function as actual workers' > councils. > https://oaklandsocialist.com/2018/04/26/theory-of-permanent-or-unint > errupted-revolution-and-syria > / > > John Reimann > > -- > "Science and socialism go hand-in-hand." Felicity Dowling > Check out:https:http://oaklandsocialist.com also on Facebook > > -- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. https://www.avast.com/antivirus -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. 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