As you may have noticed, this letter did not appear in the Weekly Worker, despite me sending it in plenty of time for the current issue. I thought that they could have included an edited version of it, but it's their prerogrative to push their own agenda, I suppose.

 

I'm inclined to the position that the CPGB (Communist Party of Great Britain, which publishes the Weekly Worker, in case anyone is reading this who doesn't know) are primarily acting as wreckers of left-wing movements. I first came across them in the Socialist Alliance (SA) when it was dominated by the Socialist Party (of which I was then a member), and their shouting rants were certainly off-putting to genuine socialists. They started adopting a policy of positive engagement when the SWP joined the SA. Their paper continually attacks left-wing organisations of one hue or another and even had an article (http://www.cpgb.org.uk/worker/675/CMP%202.htm) entitled "It has to go" written by their editor Peter Manson about their favourite hobby horse, the Campaign for a Marxist Party (CMP).

 

The only issue on which they appear serious is Iran, with their acitivities around Hands Off the People of Iran (HOPI). However, they do tend to put across pro-imperialist propaganda on that issue, such as with their front page saying that Iran is developing nuclear weapons (http://www.cpgb.org.uk/worker/695/695.pdf). Their claims to really be opposed to war on Iran would be more credible if HOPI organised activities against bombings/sanctions. I was heavily involved with the Campaign Against Sanctions and War on Iraq (based in Manchester), and I ensured that we opposed Saddam Hussein and the Ba'athist regime, arguing that the only solution was for ordinary people to rise up and overthrow the regime, so I'm sympathetic to HOPI. But we organised demonstrations and handed out leaflets against sanctions and war, concentrating our opposition to the actions of US/British imperialism

 

In my opposition to Marxism, our aims have sometimes coincided, but they tend not to publish my contributions that make positive suggestions. It was good that they printed my December 6 letter, in which I pointed out that a "revolutionary socialist party" would be more appropriate than a communist or Marxist one. The CPGB don't want to stop using the terms "communist" and "Marxist", however off-putting they are to ordinary people. Maybe the Democratic Socialist Alliance (DSA) will take up the mantle, but if its members are really dedicated to "the dictatorship of the proletariat" then they probably won't...

 

----- Original Message ----
From: Steve Wallis <revolutionarysocialiststeve@...>
To: weeklyworker@...
Cc: DSA-PBPElectionInfo@...
Sent: Monday, 17 December, 2007 3:28:29 PM
Subject: [DSA-PBPElectionInfo] Another letter for the Weekly Worker

Paul Bennett replies to my point: "Marxists believe
that communism can only occur after years of
socialism" (Letters, December 6) by saying: "Marxists
believe no such thing. The socialism/communism
distinction is not found in the writings of Marx. It's
true that he distinguished between lower and higher
phases of communism, but that is very different"
(Letters, December 13).

Not according to Lenin. In chapter 5 of "The State and
Revolution", he wrote: "What is usually called
socialism was termed by Marx the 'first', or lower,
phase of communist society". Lenin used the term
"complete communism" for the higher phase. I was a
member of Militant/the Socialist Party from 1990-8,
and we used the terms "socialism" and "communism" -
terminology common to most Marxist organisations
today, I believe.

Lenin talked of the state "withering away" in the
transition from socialism to communism, as people's
prejudices disappear over time and the danger of
counter-revolution recedes. Personally, I was never
convinced that communism will work, since there would
still be crime over issues of love and there would be
environmental shortages.

Paul argues that "technological progress since Marx's
day" would enable communism to be introduced
immediately after a revolution. Surely that is an
anarchist viewpoint?

Paul doesn't care whether the term "socialism" or
"communism" is used. We should - most people think of
the societies that collapsed in the USSR and Eastern
Europe when communism is mentioned. Surely the name
Revolutionary Socialist Party is far better than
Communist Party or Marxist Party, for the organisation
the CPGB wishes to build, uniting "communists,
revolutionary socialists and all politically advanced
workers"?

I have now rejected Marxism and see the fundamental
struggle in society as between good and bad forces. I
advocate an ethical capitalist revolution, which
brings good people to power and tries to force rich
people to pay tax with the threat of confiscation of
their assets, and yields a world where people can vote
for socialism or communism in particular countries. I
also advocate proportional representation by single
transferable vote, under socialism as well as
capitalism, but people could vote for "the
dictatorship of the proletariat" if they want and I am
prepared to unite with good people who advocate that
kind of society.

Socialism is much more practicable in the short term
in an independent Scotland than the UK as a whole, due
to the dominance of financial services based in the
City of London in the UK economy. A poll in the
December 16 Sunday Herald shows a surge in support for
Scottish independence, with 40% in favour and 44%
opposed; it will become even more popular when the
economic crisis worsens, with some sort of meltdown
likely in my opinion, particularly if socialists
advocate independence as a step towards a different
economic system.

--
Steve Wallis (Glasgow, Scotland)
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