Hi Jim D. & Justin:
>It helps if a group has clear "principles of unity": what is the group
>_for_ and _against_? how does it propose to attain those goals, etc. In
>fact, without some notion of "P of U" (as the Maoists used to call them),
>there really isn't a group.
Exactly. I think that at least the following should be among the
principles of unity of _any_ group that wants to be called leftist:
For: socialism (of some kind -- disagreements should be allowed here)
Against: sexism/heterosexism, racism, imperialism, oppressions based on
disabilities, etc.
My concern is that the opposition to imperialism has been _weakening_ since
the end of the Cold War.
>>The CPUSA went very far in creating the culture of anti-racism among white
>>workers during the 30s, but that's because the Party leaders had already
>>made up their minds about winning blacks for the Party by fighting racism
>>inside, not just outside, the Party. The Comintern resolution on the
>>"Negro Question" helped to firm up their political backbones.
>
>The CPUSA should be praised for that, though I'd like to know more about
>how other socialist groups fared on this issue (and the source of their
>politics).
Is Lou here now? He can regale you with the SWP history on anti-racism.
>The problem with the CPUSA is that at the same time that good stuff (like
>anti-racism) came down from on high, so did bad stuff (tailing the USSR).
Ain't that the dialectical truth. Have you read _Labor's War at Home: the
CIO in World War II_ by Nelson Lichtenstein (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1982), for instance? The CP's Popular Front culture did
much to democratize America, but the turn to patriotism & Americanism
during that period was no good (and helped to do in the CP itself after
WW2).
>Also, the top-down type of organization would drive all -- or almost all --
>of the participants in pen-l nuts. I'd bet that those who like that kind of
>bureaucratic organization imagine themselves at the top of the hierarchy.
Two qualifications. I think that most if not all PEN-L-type academics (or
maybe most paid intellectuals in general) might be a tad too
*individualist* to become reliable communists; academy mainly operates on
the ideal of competition & meritocracy, not solidarity, (everybody is too
in love with his personal "opinion" & ready to kill or die to defend it,
instead of thinking in terms of the good of the working class). Yours
truly included (I've _never_ been a member of _any_ socialist party -- I'm
afraid I may be an anti-social socialist). Most paid intellectuals might
be better suited for fellow-travelling. A Communist Party needs lots of
fellow travellers, so I'm not saying it's bad to be a Marxist academic.
Besides, exceptions exist, and with the proletarianization of intellectual
work, things may change, and soon.
Now, "bureaucracy." What is "bureaucracy"? Any organization with more
than a handful of members needs a structure of delegation & representation
-- hence bureaucracy. How do you run modern industries & distribution
systems without bureaucracy of any kind? The same for political parties.
Bureaucracy can be minimized & made more efficient & controlled
democratically, but it can't be reduced to zero (unless you believe "small
is beautiful").
Justin wrote:
<<<Probably I would not have survived in the CPUSA in the 1930s, I'm
terrible about thought control. No doubt I would have been shot in the CPSU
as toon as they noticed me. This is a criticism?>>>
Recall that the CPUSA failed to oppose the internment of
Japanese-Americans. So I wouldn't have survived in it either. I just
think they struggled admirably for the defence of black Americans.
<<<However, I don't understand the last point: is the notion that it is
somehow racist of me to be disgusted and disappointed with the terrifying
degree of reflex conformity among (mostly white, if that's relevant)
Antioch students?>>>
Not racist but too individualist (see above). Well, you can't help it --
especially now that you are a lawyer, if you get your own private practice,
you are an authentic member of the petty producers! :)
Yoshie
