Date: Sat, 20 Oct 2001 13:04:41 +0200 (CEST)
From: <cerclesocial-AT-altern.org>
Subject: AUT: Re: Re: Why People Join Vanguard Organizations?


Hi,

I would answer in the same sense than Chris. I also was a member of some
trotskists organizations in France, fron 1986 to 1992. When I was a
teenager, I was interested in revolutionnary communism, and read some books
(Marx, Trotsksy, Mao Zodong, Illich, Marcuse, ...). But the first "living"
commies I encounter were members of the Revolutionnary Communist Youth (JCR
; Krivine / Bensaid tendency), and I entered the organization. It was
sufficient for me to be a "real" revolutionnary. It was a good period,
because two months after,  there was the great 1986 students strike, with
one-million people demos, so we tought it aw a prerevolutionnary period.

I also encountered militants from Workers Struggle (Lutte Ouvrière), wich I
discuted on theorical questions. It was very interesting, because in JCR ,
our fomration was very deficient. I also discuted with a lot of small groups
: French Trotskists League (Spartacists), International Communist Current,
etc. I finaly left JCR, who was supporting an ex-stalinian to presidentail
elections, to integrate the Internationalist Communist Party (PCI ;
Lambertist) in 1988. I was excluded in 1992 for leftism.

I also encountered the anrcho-punk and staigth-edge movement an, were I had,
as a "Redskin", a lot of friends. But this movement without theory and
organization don't interested me in the same intellectual way than
trotskism. Now, I'm more aware what point I'm influenced in my
(anti-)political point of view by Anarcho-Punk and SxE.

Why have joined a vanguardist organization ? First, because the first I met
was one. And I know a lot of comardes who had the same situation. In the
International Discussion Network, almost half people had the same... Why was
it the first one ? Because they were active and visibles, with a romantic
history, etc. But also, when I encountered Lambertist PCI, because they had
a good theorical formation   and can explain me the story of revolutions
(very important, very striking), they can formulate cleraly the problems I
was feeling inthe JCR (philo-stalinism, cloudly toughts, opportunism, etc.).
They got answers. Third, because when you are a member of a vanguardist
organization, you now you got the answer, you know you're the party that
will lead working class to revolution (and others will all betray...)., you
now that you need an organized force to win and that revolution is a party
affair. And if you think the party is wrong - what we do every week in the
student cell - you feel necessary to ameliorate the party or to leave it to
create the real party....

 But you alos live in the total dependency of the direction, of the
political bureau. There's a problem ? Take the phone and ask the permanency
BP member, or even Pierre Lambert himself, they got the solution. Once, in
the student cell, we had a collective lough, when we received the new
partyline consign : we should be no longer sectarian ! Everybody knew that
sectarism was the lambertism essence and it could only be a joke...

When I was excluded  in 1992, I tried some things in students struggle, and
battled with trade-unions and millitants. Then I was too much disgutted by
political engagement than I do nothing from 1993 to 1999 . I was
intelectually deconstructing Trotskism, finding all problems, discovering
others toughts, etc. But I was always, as a junk, serachnig the New Party,
the one I will agree on all the program. And there was none... In 1999, with
my girlfriedn, we created Le Cercle social and evolved on anarchists /
coucilists / situationnists ideas. It took 9 years to win over trotskism and
vanguardism party. But I know, and some comrades joke me about this, that I
conserve Trots attitudes in some ways, and that I'm for a long time as
traumatized as a sect renegade...

Nicolas




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