File spoon-archives/marxism-international.archive/marxism-international_1997/marxism-international.9708, message 305


Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 11:04:15 +0200
From: Robert Malecki <malecki-AT-algonet.se>
Subject: Re: M-I: Twilight of the labor movement


Workers' Voice wrote:

> Louis R Godena wrote:
> >
> > But that is not what concerns me this morning.  Rather, it is this
> feeling
> > that fundamental criticism of the fetishization of the working class
> on the
> > Left is somehow tantamount to disloyalty toward Marxism.
>
> Well, it wasn't the Left -- or even Marx -- that decided that the
> working class "is the only really revolutionary class".  That was
> history.  But I'm gathering he's equating the organized labor movement
>
> with the whole of the working class, instead of being a Marxist and
> seeing organized labor as a part -- a vital part -- of the working
> class.
>
> > It is true that,
> > politically, I disagree to various extents with just about everyone
> on
> > marxism-international.  This is fine with me.  Marxism-international
> is not
> > the workers movement, nor is the Communist Party, nor the AFL-CIO,
> nor the
> > myriad of organizations, large or ridiculous, where three or more
> gather in
> > Marx's name.  (The "new" AFL reminds me a lot of Zhygonov's Russian
> > Communist Party, similar to the old, but ultimately a caricature of
> its
> > former self, "first as tragedy, then as farce.")
> >
>
> Neither is Lou Godena, whose petty-bourgeois conceptions of the
> working
> class have led him to throw his hands in the air and cry "enough!"
> (See
> below.)  I do, however, agree that M-I is not the whole of the
> workers'
> movement, and neither is the AFL-CIO.
>
> > And, anyway,  the workers movement itself, having fulfilled its
> historic
> > role over the past 150 years, is now a spent force.
>
> New Left rubbish, anyone?  So much for Marxism!
>
> > It is time to move on
> > to other things, which the world is now doing very nicely.
>
> What, pray tell, is the *world* moving on to?
>
> > I am much
> > excited by the re-functioning of Communist and Workers parties
> occurring
> > throughout Europe and Asia, though I am impatient for many of them
> to emerge
> > from the shadow of a triumphalist capitalism.  But that will come,
> in time.
> >
>
> Uhh ... these so-called "Communist and Workers parties" have "emerged
> from the shadow of triumphalist capitalism" ... as partners!  All of
> the
> "Communist" parties in Eastern Europe and the former USSR have exposed
>
> their yellow underbellies, crawling before the Second International
> for
> admission.  In China, the CCP is the caretaker of an emerging
> capitalist
> system.  Everywhere else, these rotten sects and cults have been too
> busy sucking up to imperialist-backed "liberation fighters" like
> Laurent
> Kabila.  Or, worse, telling the working class to vote for bourgeois
> parties.  Not exactly something to be "excited" about.
>
> > I do not mean to ramble.  Following are my reasons, briefly stated,
> why I do
> > feel that the labor movement *as it is currently constituted* is
> doomed to
> > failure in this country.  This does not necessarily mean the end of
> the
> > socialist project --far from it-- but it does demand a basic
> refunctioning
> > of what we're about.
> >
> > 1) The absence, or near-absence, of absolute poverty among the
> American
> > working class.
> >
>
> I've heard this before:  the "worse is better" approach.  Not only do
> genuine Marxists condemn this as a fatalist outlook, but history has
> thoroughly refuted this gutter ideology.  The mass struggles in the
> mid-1930s and late-1960s occured in a period of relative economic
> equilibrium and recovery.  Such periods of recovery provide the
> working
> class an opportunity to test its illusions and, thus, have them
> shattered.  This was the case even during the New Deal in the U.S.
> The
> formation of the CIO was met with even greater resistance by the
> bosses
> than the KoL and the AFL.
>
> > 2) The congenital inability of the working class to develop into a
> culture
> > of a ruling class.
> >
>
> I'm guessing by this you mean the inability of the working class,
> under
> the present conditions, to develop into the class for itself, and
> desire
> to take power.  If that's what you mean, then we agree.  But, somehow,
> I
> think you mean something different.
>
> > 3) The failure of the labor movement, and its concomitant Left
> parties, to
> > concentrate on issues that resonate within American social
> traditions.
> >
>
> Can you be specific?  What the hell do you mean by "American social
> traditions"?  Are you asking Marxists to wave Old Glory and march in
> the
> July 4 parade?
>
> Our organization, for example, does alot of work around issues
> relevant
> and vital to the working class in the U.S.:  fighting to maintain
> public
> education, strike support work, antiracist/antifascist work, etc.
> These
> resonate farther among the working class than any "Fourth of July
> Barbecue" would.
>
> > 4) The overweening presence of sclerotic, antiquated and corrupt
> union
> > infrastructures.
> >
>
> But what do you do about it?  Throw up your hands and cry "enough!"?
> Or, do you fight.  Someone once said "the point is to change it."
> Changing the situation -- especially *how* you change it -- is the
> key.
>
> > 5) The absence of a competent, credible *lumpenintelligentsia*
> providing
> > both the theory of revolution and a practical guide to action.
> >
>
> #&(% this!  The working class does need some "lumpenintelligentsia" to
>
> lead it around by the nose!  This is the same, typical petty-bourgeois
>
> garbage that has degraded and degenerated the Left to the point it is
> today.  The working class has the ability to learn and understand
> Marxism, and apply it to their day-to-day conditions and struggles.
> We
> (the working class) don't need anything "provided" to us!  We don't
> need
> any "condescending saviors"!
>
> > 6) The innate conservatism of middle-class workers and, especially,
> their
> > obstinate willingness to play the employer's game.  No matter what.
> >
>
> It's amazing how Godena can say one thing I agree with one minute, and
>
> make a thoroughly anti-working-class, petty-bourgeois statement the
> next.  This political schitzophrenia is dizzying.
>
> > 7) The American radical tradition, which is almost wholly
> individualistic,
> > rather than collectivist.
> >
> > Off the top of my head, this is how I percieve the problem of moving
> the
> > working class towards socialism.  If anyone cares to argue these
> points (or
> > their equivalent), fine.  In the meantime, please refrain from
> attributing
> > to me views that are decidedly not my own.
> >
>
> It's easier to argue against your views.  They are a congenital defect
>
> of the Left today: a petty-bourgeois conception leads to great
> expectations, which leads to catastrophic consequences, and eventually
>
> giving up on the sliver of Marxism which was surrounded by
> middle-class
> hogwash.
>
> I may not have been on the earth as long as you, Lou, but I've seen my
>
> share of class struggle and class battles.  Even though you do not
> explicitly say that the "Western proletariat" is dead, that is the
> implication, and the logical extension of your positions.  This is
> shown
> in your use of "working class" and "organized labor" as synonyms.
>
> I'm sure this will bring a sharp response from you.  That's OK.  I
> expect it.  But, to be honest, there is nothing you can say to
> convince
> me.  Your petty-bourgeois conceptions of "socialism" have no use to a
> working-class Bolshevik like me.
>
> > Louis Godena
> >
>
> Odo Ital
> --
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>      --- from list marxism-international-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu
> ---

 Nice piece--Oda Ital! I will put it in a future issue of Cockroach!

Bob Malecki


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