There is not a single country where socialism has been realised,
though over a century has passed since Marx and Engels made public
the Communist
Manifesto. Capitalism still remains.
Capitalists are very cunning.
They leave no stone un-turned to maintain their position. Here lies
one of the major reasons why revolution does not break out. Our
revolutionary goal shapes our policy in the daily struggle. We have
to stand up and fight for the true interests of the working class as
a whole, at every turn of the road. It is our duty to the working
class to make such a fight. We would not be worthy of the proud name
our party bears if we evaded such a fight on any pretext. The reason
for this is that ours is the only party willing to fight for the
immediate interests of the workers, and the only party standing for
the solution of the labour problem by means of the revolutionary
overthrow of capitalism. All of the interests of the working class,
immediately and ultimately, are indissolubly bound up with the
revolution.
We have set up the theory of the salvation of the workers
through uncompromising struggle against their exploiters. Our fight
is to organise workers together on the basis of the class struggle.
Therefore, they must be enlightened as to our aims and plans. We are
fighting for their minds and hearts. Do not forget that. We must
adopt the point of view that our struggle is a struggle to develop
the class consciousness of the workers and to win them over to the
principle of the revolutionary struggle against capitalism.
Our
party is a party of workers, a party of struggle against capitalism
and all its works. We are not progressives, but revolutionists. The
test of our work can never be made by formal victories, but by the
development of class consciousness among workers, the degree of their
organisation on that basis. Many difficulties will confront us in the
task we have undertaken, but, with the assistance of the party, we
will solve them all. We will win over people to the side of
socialism; we will wrest the labour movement from the hands of the
bourgeoisie and convert them into mighty instruments for the
socialist revolution. There are plenty of things in the movement that
tend to discourage socialists who are striving to build an
organisation that can actually serve as the instrument of the workers
in their fight for power. Poverty and misery give birth and
sustenance to religion. Solace for an empty stomach is often found by
the wretched in the adoration of an icon.
We
working people want to raise our wages, cut our hours, make our jobs
safer and less injurious to our health and less unpleasant places in
which to earn our living. If we realise what an injury the capitalist
system does to us, we want also to get rid of it. We can not do these
things by ourselves. We can do them together. The
expression "rank-and-file" to which we refer are made most
often by addicts of the "leadership principle." Now the
"leadership principle"—the idea that we should pick and
follow leaders, and seek a cure for our troubles by changing
leaders—is the direct opposite to the Socialist Party's idea of
organisation. It is indeed curious that those who advocate this style
of organisation should ever demand "rank-and-file control."
How does it happen? The object of these various political cults of
"follow-the-leader" is to obtain more followers for their
various leaders. And since every time there is a new leader there are
new cults, this results in a rather bewildering situation.
Since
their purpose is not to organise a working class to do something for
itself, but to make sure that the leaders of one cult are followed
rather than the leaders of another, they seek their following chiefly
in already organised groups of workers. Sometimes they try to secure
such a following by currying favour with the officials of these
unions. That was and is the pet policy of the Leninists and
Trotskyists sects who vary this strategy with that of "boring
from within" to grab the official positions.
When
a group of self-appointed saviours try to grab the official positions
they resort to the favourite tricks of the politicians. They must
charge the elected officials with "betraying their mandates,"
"not living up to their promises," "ignoring the
wishes of the rank and file." They must promise that if they are
elected, the "rank-and-file" will rule through them. As a
result we have the strange spectacle of "rank-and-file"
committees waiting instructions from some leader before they can
decide upon their next step. To
get into the saddle, these would-be leaders must convince their
potential victims that they are now being ridden, but that with them
in the saddle, they will no longer be ridden. It will not serve their
purpose to urge that those who are being ridden should get rid of
rider, saddle and all. They must urge that only the riders be
changed.
No comments:
Post a Comment