Date: Sun, 25 Jan 1998 01:08:57 +0100
From: Jorn Andersen <jorn.andersen-AT-vip.cybercity.dk>
Subject: Re: M-I: Re: Another salvo at the state caps


At 11:47 24.1.98 -0500, Bruce D. Burleson wrote:
>
>On Sat, 24 Jan 1998, Jorn Andersen wrote:
>
>> May I suggest those who want to get hold of this to read something about
>> permanent revolution. A starter could be Marx's 1850 March Address.
>
>
>What?  A Cliff-tendency (non-Fourth International) wants to talk about
>Trotsky?  Very interesting.
>
>During my three years in the American ISO, I was never encouraged to
>read Trotsky

That's certainly a fault. In general we do encourage people to read
Trotsky. He is certainly one of the most important marxists this century.
With Luxemburg and Gramsci he is one of the first major theorists, who
deals with the problems of modern capitalism (imperialism, modern reformist
working class unions etc.).

Actually Tony Cliff has written a 4 vol. biography on Trotsky, where esp.
vol IV, "The darker the Night, the brighter the Star" is intersting, IMO.
As an introduction to Trotskys ideas I think Duncan Hallas' (SWP-UK founder
member) small book "Trotsky's Marxism" is excellent. In the SWP quarterly
journal "International Socialism" you will find plenty of references to
Trotsky. Alex Callinicos (leading SWP-UK member) has also written a book on
"Trotskyism" (which I haven't read), and Bookmarks has published a major
selection of Trotsky's writings on "Fascism, Stalinism and the United
Front" - at a more reasonable price than Pathfinder's.
So I think you have got the wrong impression - the fault probably not yours
alone.

>least of all the Transitional Program (a document most
>IS'ers have probably never heard of).  Now I see that that is because
>the IS tendency is only *nominally* Trotskyist.

Yes, I *have* read the Transitional Programme. It's interesting enough, but
I never understood why its become such a fetich for large parts of the
Trotskyist movement. I think his writings on the United Front, on
stalinism, on revolutionary strategy and tactics in relation to France in
the mid-30's and, not to forget, Spain are much more interesting.

A debate about who is most "Trotskyist" IMO is a sterile debate. I can only
say that we consider ourselves to stand in the tradition of socialism from
below, a tradition whose main theorists include Marx, Engels, Lenin,
Trotsky, Luxemburg, Garmsci and others.

Also: Trotsky had his faults, as did Marx and Lenin. When we say that we
are Marxists, Trotskyists etc. the point is not to lick their boots, but to
stand on their shoulders. That way we have a chance to look farther than
they could.

Yours

Jorn



-- 
Jorn Andersen

Internationale Socialister
Copenhagen, Denmark
IS-WWW: http://www2.dk-online.dk/users/is-dk/


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