On Thu, Nov 7, 2024 at 12:14 PM, hari kumar wrote: > > So is a soberly optimistic realism to be eschewed? I think not... I have no > answer... But without the broadest front - we are unable to best prepare.
Hari, I agree with you in theory, and in your practice you are one of the better examples I know of someone trying to build a Leninist organization by moving in an uncharacteristically non-sectarian way in broader left-wing circles. I also agree that a Leninist group better “prepares" activists to intervene in outbreaks of mass activity by providing them with the necessary political education and organizing skills. And, finally, I agree that if such mass activity were to culminate in a revolutionary crisis, a democratic centralist party would be required to lead it to a successful conclusion. Where I think we might disagree if we were in a Leninist group together is whether it is also necessary, as you believe, to promote a “soberly optimistic realism”, or, more commonly, an “optimism of the will” in the face of “pessimism of the intellect.” The problem is that what is optimistic is not realistic outside of the revolutionary periods Leninist parties were designed for. In order to endure, these groups must necessarily persuade themselves that the outlook is more promising than it is. Then when the cadre venture into the field and confront the low level of class struggle, especially where it is centred in the unions, it quickly becomes apparent that the revolution is not around the corner and they leave their groups rather than agitate on their behalf. That is why so many competing Leninist groups have remained so marginal in our lifetime and have lost far more cadre than they have gained from their exposure to the masses and their organizations. I'm not alone on this list in having had that experience, an unintended consequence of promoting “optimistic realism”. I also think it's mistaken to believe that such preparation is necessary because the Leninist organization is destined to intersect with and lead the impending radicalization. I don ’ t know if you are among those who promote that view, but mine is that any working class radicalization would be expressed both outside and within the existing left-centre parties, and that the main forces of a new revolutionary socialist party are in fact more likely to emerge from these reformist organizations after an internal struggle to change their direction and leadership. This understanding also has serious political implications, and is not shared by many Leninist groups which oppose any orientation to the dominant left-centre formations even when there is motion to the left or groups like the DSA within them. My perspective has been shaped by my own reintroduction to the contemporary left since moving to the West Coast nearly a decade ago. Except for a brief interlude during the pandemic when most political activity ceased, I was successively involved in a variety of local organizations - the Social and Environmental Alliance, Climate Justice Victoria. the Victoria Affordable Housing Coalition, and a Jacobin study group as well as an ad hoc coalition which organized a mass demonstration after Trump was elected in 2016 in solidarity with the US women’s movement. I also briefly “entered" the NDP in support of the left-wing candidate for the federal leadership, Nikki Ashton, the Canadian MP who was inspired by the Sanders movement across the border. All of these initiatives were ephemeral and the groups were short-lived Potemkin Villages. That is what led me to state in reply to your earlier message that “d rafting and trading blueprints on how (an organization to the left of the DP) might be ‘built' in the absence of a mass working class radicalization is IMO an idealist exercise...” But I know you rarely engage in that exercise and were in fact correcting Michael for seeming to do so. My comment was mainly intended for those on the list other than yourselves, for those who most loudly proclaim their revolutionary bona fides. There seems to be an inverse relationship between issuing proclamations for a new party over the internet and actual exposure to the mass organizations of the working class and its allies as they are today. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#33404): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/33404 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/109441085/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/13617172/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
