Proletarian Ultra
8th June 2010, 07:33
Here is my best attempt to outline Avakian's New Synthesis in neutral terms.
http://revcom.us/a/129/New_Synthesis_Speech-en.html
1. Communism is not inevitable. Any tendency to see communism as the inevitable outcome of history is the result of "idealist, even quasi-religious, forms of thought that had found their way into the foundation of Marxism and had not been ruptured with." The concept of "negation of negation" comes under particular criticism in Communism: The Beginning of a New Stage (http://www.rwor.org/Manifesto/Manifesto.html).
2. Base-Superstructure theory is too simplistic. Ideology isn't a one-directional outgrowth of the mode of production. An idea like racism can "take on a life of its own." Neither Mao nor Lenin "grasped the scope and fluidity of this relative independence deeply enough, or in a layered enough way," but we can.
3. There is no such thing as 'Class Truth.' "Truth is truth, and bullshit is bullshit." Truth does not have a class character, and we can learn things from bourgeois thinkers. (Elsewhere, Avakian cites Popper approvingly.)
4. Internationalism. The international communist movement must “put the advance of the world revolution above everything, even above the advance of the revolution in the particular country—build the socialist state as above all a base area for the world revolution.”
5. Solid core with a lot of elasticity. Something about reconciling proletarian dictatorship and democracy. More self-criticism in the party, etc.
6. The proletariat liberates humanity. Economism is for losers. Focus not just on immediate material demands of the proletariat, but on emancipatory struggles for all of humanity. Making Revolution (http://revcom.us/avakian/makingrevolution/) specifically mentions police brutality, anti-war activism, abortion and teaching of evolution in schools.
7. Communism is a science, so we need a leader. "Look: becoming emancipators of humanity is a gigantic rupture and you don’t do it without leadership. Again: people can not take conscious initiative to change the world if they don’t know how the world works; that takes science; and they have to get that science from people who have had an opportunity to get into it. Without that—without a vanguard that is actually worthy of the name—communist revolution’s never gonna happen."
This then is the outline of the new synthesis—a re-envisioning of revolution and communism, aiming for a radically different society, and ultimately a communist world, without exploitation and without oppressive relations among people. This new synthesis has “ideologized” revolution back onto the scene and objectively represents, as Avakian says, “a source of hope and of daring on a solid scientific foundation."
The opposition between science and religion is a running theme - this is in line with the anti-religious right work that World Can't Wait is doing right now, and RCP's recent Away With All Gods campaign. Before we start tearing it apart - RCP people, would you say that's a pretty fair summary?
http://revcom.us/a/129/New_Synthesis_Speech-en.html
1. Communism is not inevitable. Any tendency to see communism as the inevitable outcome of history is the result of "idealist, even quasi-religious, forms of thought that had found their way into the foundation of Marxism and had not been ruptured with." The concept of "negation of negation" comes under particular criticism in Communism: The Beginning of a New Stage (http://www.rwor.org/Manifesto/Manifesto.html).
2. Base-Superstructure theory is too simplistic. Ideology isn't a one-directional outgrowth of the mode of production. An idea like racism can "take on a life of its own." Neither Mao nor Lenin "grasped the scope and fluidity of this relative independence deeply enough, or in a layered enough way," but we can.
3. There is no such thing as 'Class Truth.' "Truth is truth, and bullshit is bullshit." Truth does not have a class character, and we can learn things from bourgeois thinkers. (Elsewhere, Avakian cites Popper approvingly.)
4. Internationalism. The international communist movement must “put the advance of the world revolution above everything, even above the advance of the revolution in the particular country—build the socialist state as above all a base area for the world revolution.”
5. Solid core with a lot of elasticity. Something about reconciling proletarian dictatorship and democracy. More self-criticism in the party, etc.
6. The proletariat liberates humanity. Economism is for losers. Focus not just on immediate material demands of the proletariat, but on emancipatory struggles for all of humanity. Making Revolution (http://revcom.us/avakian/makingrevolution/) specifically mentions police brutality, anti-war activism, abortion and teaching of evolution in schools.
7. Communism is a science, so we need a leader. "Look: becoming emancipators of humanity is a gigantic rupture and you don’t do it without leadership. Again: people can not take conscious initiative to change the world if they don’t know how the world works; that takes science; and they have to get that science from people who have had an opportunity to get into it. Without that—without a vanguard that is actually worthy of the name—communist revolution’s never gonna happen."
This then is the outline of the new synthesis—a re-envisioning of revolution and communism, aiming for a radically different society, and ultimately a communist world, without exploitation and without oppressive relations among people. This new synthesis has “ideologized” revolution back onto the scene and objectively represents, as Avakian says, “a source of hope and of daring on a solid scientific foundation."
The opposition between science and religion is a running theme - this is in line with the anti-religious right work that World Can't Wait is doing right now, and RCP's recent Away With All Gods campaign. Before we start tearing it apart - RCP people, would you say that's a pretty fair summary?