Ilyich
5th August 2011, 22:47
I have also posted the following as a blog entry:
As the title of this thread would suggest, I find myself in a difficult position. I strongly admire certain aspects of two conflicting socialist tendencies, anarchism and Trotskyism. Before I get into that though, let me tell you about the tendencies which I identified with in the past. Before I was a socialist, I was a right libertarian. Soon, however, I began to see laissez-faire capitalism as something that needed to be restrained for the sake of humanity. I became a bleeding-heart liberal. I remained a sturdy liberal until one day in high school when we read about the great American socialist Eugene Debs. As a young and naïve liberal, I was naturally fascinated by this crusader for social justice. As I began to read the works of Debs and other socialists, I started to identify as a democratic socialist. I was really more of a social democrat by that point as I favor reform over revolution, had little interest in abolishing capitalism, and was opposed to communism as an impractical system. This soon changed, however, after I read The Communist Manifesto and a short biography of Karl Marx. I started calling myself a revolutionary Marxist and I never question my faith in the theories of Marx and Engels until now. As many young Marxists do, I turned to Trotsky. At the time I thought Trotsky represented a more democratic and libertarian side of Marxism-Leninism. I questioned my Trotskyism more and more as I discovered the authoritarianism present in Bolshevik-Leninism. I discover Rosa Luxemburg and decided to become a Luxemburgist. I have also called myself various things like Marxist-DeLeonist, libertarian Marxist, and left communist, but they ultimately led back to Luxemburgism. Recently I have decided that there is no future in non-Leninist Marxism. And so, I have decided to either return to my Marxist-Leninist-Trotskyist roots or leave Marxism altogether. What is to be done?
Trotskyist Leninism attracts me for several reasons:
1. I like the idea of a vanguard party organized through democratic centralism. The idea of a party made of class conscious workers which debate freely but act united may not be ideal, but it appeals to me as a practical socialist. It clearly would make short-term success in a revolution much easier to attain.
2. I am an internationalist. A workers’ state will be under constant siege unless socialism is spread across the world.
3. Trotsky was an authoritarian figure, but many Trotskyists, especially third camp Trotskyist, have been far more democratic, i.e. Hal Draper, the early Max Shachtman, Tony Cliff, etc.
4. I would not consider myself an orthodox Trotskyist, but rather a third camp Trotskyist. This allows me to avoid some of the more authoritarian stances taken by Trotsky and to consider the USSR state capitalist rather than a degenerated workers’ state.
5. There are other reasons. I will put them in as I think of them.
There are, however, reasons why I would rather consider myself an anarchist than a Trotskyist:
1. Although the Red Terror and the Kronstadt affair do not bother me as much as they used to bother me, I am against the death penalty and hope to avoid any misconceptions about that stance
2. I support workers’ councils (so do some third camp Trotskyists like the ISO) over a centrally planned economy.
3. If I were a Trotskyist (or an anarchist for that matter) I would have to hate other leftists because of the rampant sectarianism on the left. I currently have friends ranging from anarchist to Trotskyist to Castroist and I have no interest in hating them.
4. The organization to which I belong, the Socialist Party of the USA, does not allow Leninists.
What does everyone here think I should do?
As the title of this thread would suggest, I find myself in a difficult position. I strongly admire certain aspects of two conflicting socialist tendencies, anarchism and Trotskyism. Before I get into that though, let me tell you about the tendencies which I identified with in the past. Before I was a socialist, I was a right libertarian. Soon, however, I began to see laissez-faire capitalism as something that needed to be restrained for the sake of humanity. I became a bleeding-heart liberal. I remained a sturdy liberal until one day in high school when we read about the great American socialist Eugene Debs. As a young and naïve liberal, I was naturally fascinated by this crusader for social justice. As I began to read the works of Debs and other socialists, I started to identify as a democratic socialist. I was really more of a social democrat by that point as I favor reform over revolution, had little interest in abolishing capitalism, and was opposed to communism as an impractical system. This soon changed, however, after I read The Communist Manifesto and a short biography of Karl Marx. I started calling myself a revolutionary Marxist and I never question my faith in the theories of Marx and Engels until now. As many young Marxists do, I turned to Trotsky. At the time I thought Trotsky represented a more democratic and libertarian side of Marxism-Leninism. I questioned my Trotskyism more and more as I discovered the authoritarianism present in Bolshevik-Leninism. I discover Rosa Luxemburg and decided to become a Luxemburgist. I have also called myself various things like Marxist-DeLeonist, libertarian Marxist, and left communist, but they ultimately led back to Luxemburgism. Recently I have decided that there is no future in non-Leninist Marxism. And so, I have decided to either return to my Marxist-Leninist-Trotskyist roots or leave Marxism altogether. What is to be done?
Trotskyist Leninism attracts me for several reasons:
1. I like the idea of a vanguard party organized through democratic centralism. The idea of a party made of class conscious workers which debate freely but act united may not be ideal, but it appeals to me as a practical socialist. It clearly would make short-term success in a revolution much easier to attain.
2. I am an internationalist. A workers’ state will be under constant siege unless socialism is spread across the world.
3. Trotsky was an authoritarian figure, but many Trotskyists, especially third camp Trotskyist, have been far more democratic, i.e. Hal Draper, the early Max Shachtman, Tony Cliff, etc.
4. I would not consider myself an orthodox Trotskyist, but rather a third camp Trotskyist. This allows me to avoid some of the more authoritarian stances taken by Trotsky and to consider the USSR state capitalist rather than a degenerated workers’ state.
5. There are other reasons. I will put them in as I think of them.
There are, however, reasons why I would rather consider myself an anarchist than a Trotskyist:
1. Although the Red Terror and the Kronstadt affair do not bother me as much as they used to bother me, I am against the death penalty and hope to avoid any misconceptions about that stance
2. I support workers’ councils (so do some third camp Trotskyists like the ISO) over a centrally planned economy.
3. If I were a Trotskyist (or an anarchist for that matter) I would have to hate other leftists because of the rampant sectarianism on the left. I currently have friends ranging from anarchist to Trotskyist to Castroist and I have no interest in hating them.
4. The organization to which I belong, the Socialist Party of the USA, does not allow Leninists.
What does everyone here think I should do?