Tzadikim
24th September 2009, 06:49
As I look at the situation the revolutionary left finds itself in within the borders of the First World, I think: how much of the blame can be laid at the hands of the capitalist class for our fragmentation, and how much at our own?
And while I have no doubt whatsoever that the capitalists use every method at their disposal to obscure the vital issues and destroy even the slightest opposition to their interests, we certainly haven't been making it easy on them. Wikipedia tells me that there are at least nine socialist parties registered with the Federal Election Commission, and probably many more groups unaffiliated with any electoral process for obvious reasons.
To be sure, there are doubtlessly deep ideological divides between the various factions, and these divides are represented by the formation of rival parties, each vying for domination over the revolutionary left. But I wonder: are these differences so severe that the risk of splintering the leftist movement altogether is a risk worth taking, to keep our comrades out of power?
Moreover: how does it look, to a worker, when he sees that those who allegedly has his best interests in mind cannot even agree on a fundamental programme to help raise him out of his conditions? How is he to know which party is the best for him to join?
And, ultimately - do the minor ideological squabbles (more usually rooted in the vagaries of Marxist theory than the real implications of its praxis) really matter to the worker in the end?
I'm not really sure why I'm posting this, except that I hope that maybe one or two comrades read it and, the next time they get into their fiftieth debate with our Trotskyist or Maoist or Stalinist or Luxemburgist comrades, they'll perhaps remember that all of us ultimately share the same goal, and that the differences between ourselves are like a drop in the ocean that divides us from the bourgeois class.
And while I have no doubt whatsoever that the capitalists use every method at their disposal to obscure the vital issues and destroy even the slightest opposition to their interests, we certainly haven't been making it easy on them. Wikipedia tells me that there are at least nine socialist parties registered with the Federal Election Commission, and probably many more groups unaffiliated with any electoral process for obvious reasons.
To be sure, there are doubtlessly deep ideological divides between the various factions, and these divides are represented by the formation of rival parties, each vying for domination over the revolutionary left. But I wonder: are these differences so severe that the risk of splintering the leftist movement altogether is a risk worth taking, to keep our comrades out of power?
Moreover: how does it look, to a worker, when he sees that those who allegedly has his best interests in mind cannot even agree on a fundamental programme to help raise him out of his conditions? How is he to know which party is the best for him to join?
And, ultimately - do the minor ideological squabbles (more usually rooted in the vagaries of Marxist theory than the real implications of its praxis) really matter to the worker in the end?
I'm not really sure why I'm posting this, except that I hope that maybe one or two comrades read it and, the next time they get into their fiftieth debate with our Trotskyist or Maoist or Stalinist or Luxemburgist comrades, they'll perhaps remember that all of us ultimately share the same goal, and that the differences between ourselves are like a drop in the ocean that divides us from the bourgeois class.