Revolutionary Wrecking.

[Labor Aristocrat Killer]

The Stalinist leadership of the USSR in the 1930s accused Trotsky of trying to sabotage the USSR in exile. Trotsky vehemently denied it, but I've always wondered that, if things had got as bad as Trotsky claimed, why not try to wreck the party from exile?

Thinking along these lines, plus Trotsky's idea of Entryism, makes me wonder if entering the Democratic Party for the explicit purpose of Wrecking it would be an effective tactic.

Disrupting the ability of the Democratic Party to function in its role of misleading the workers would lead to a revolutionary situation much faster in America.

What would be some activities that would help to destroy the Democrats from the inside? Leaking of embarrassing documents, purposefully stoking factionalism, leaking membership lists, spreading rumors and lies within the party about high-ranking members, trying to push out the Labor Bureaucrats openly, etc.

Could this be an effective tactic to jumpstart the Revolution in America? Why or why not?

[Jimmie Higgins]

The Stalinist leadership of the USSR in the 1930s accused Trotsky of trying to sabotage the USSR in exile. Trotsky vehemently denied it, but I've always wondered that, if things had got as bad as Trotsky claimed, why not try to wreck the party from exile?Well in part, from my perspective, I don't think he realized the extent of the changes that had gone on in Russia and he had a lot of faith that a political revolution could undue the hold the party had and revive working class and oppositional struggle for socialism within Russia. Second, I think he probably saw building that opposition as his main task, not sabotage which would probably not have meant that new working class forces took a lead in Russia, but some other forces.


Thinking along these lines, plus Trotsky's idea of Entryism, makes me wonder if entering the Democratic Party for the explicit purpose of Wrecking it would be an effective tactic.Entryism has generally been seen as a tactic for trying to win the rank and file of a reformist worker's organization or party away from the leadership and towards more militant and radical views and actions. So socialists entering a reformist socialist or CP controlled union to try and agitate among the rank and file would be the classic example.

The Democratic Party attracts and tries to appeal to workers and tries to influence social and union movements, but it's not a working class organization fundamentally unlike even the worst union which always has at least some inherent link to class struggle even if the leadership deny and discourage working class fight-back. Some mass social-democratic parties can be seen in a similar way and in many countries are linked to and a political extension of the union movement. I guess it would be conceivable to organize the base of Democratic party supporters to the extent that they firmly break with the leadership, but it would most likely just result in the split of the party into a populist "labor" sort of party and a much more unabashedly petty-bourgeois focused party. But I think that same thing can be more effectively done through pressure on the outside and building of a political opposition to the left of the Democrats and encouraging defections from party supporters. Part of this is just how modern political parties function - there are Democratic Party voters and supporters, but there isn't really a "rank and file". Most political organizing is done through top-down paid organizations which sometimes take on volunteers. But it's mostly the nature of the Party as one firmly dedicated to managing capitalism though they will ocassionally play "good cop" to the Republican's "bad cop".


Disrupting the ability of the Democratic Party to function in its role of misleading the workers would lead to a revolutionary situation much faster in America.As much as I would enjoy seeing leaked documents exposing the Democrats, as much as it would be great to see these smarmy double-talkers fall apart, I don't think it would necessarily translate into a political shift or a greater sense of class consciousness and willingness to fight-back. At least not automatically.

Ultimately I don't think it's as much about weakening the representatives of capital by itself (because hydra-like a new head will soon replace the old discredited one as long as the system itself remains intact) but creating our own counter-power and class confidence, consciousness, and organization.

[Labor Aristocrat Killer]

As much as I would enjoy seeing leaked documents exposing the Democrats, as much as it would be great to see these smarmy double-talkers fall apart, I don't think it would necessarily translate into a political shift or a greater sense of class consciousness and willingness to fight-back. At least not automatically.If the Democratic Party were destroyed, Labor would have to go elsewhere to maintain political influence. With nowhere to go, they would have to create their own party. The collapse of the Democratic Party, in my mind, is synonymous with the Labor Bureaucracy withdrawing their support from it.

People are already about as conscious as they are going to get, in my opinion. It's not an issue of consciousness of the masses of workers in America. It's an issue of misleadership of the class. They are currently being led by social-chauvinist and opportunist Labor Bureaucrats, who are bribed with imperialist superprofits.

Breaking the relationship of the Labor Aristocracy with the Democratic Party would create a real opening for genuine revolutionaries. It is much easier to maneuver within the structure of the unions than it is the Democratic Party.


Ultimately I don't think it's as much about weakening the representatives of capital by itself (because hydra-like a new head will soon replace the old discredited one as long as the system itself remains intact) but creating our own counter-power and class confidence, consciousness, and organizationYes, we need fighting organizations, capable of really attacking the enemy. And we need plans, tactics, and strategies for destroying the enemy. The enemy is the Labor Aristocracy.

[Lenina Rosenweg]

The Democratic Party is actually doing a good job of destroying itself.The problem is is that the Dems put themselves forward as fighting for the working class and therefore the working class is confused, demoralized and passive. The good thing is that there is now a gaping hole to the left of the Dems , as capitalism faces its biggest crisis since the 1930s, which it is the duty of the radical left to fill.

The best way to fight the Dems isn't through some sort of internal sabotage (this reminds me of a website, "Revolutionaries for Romney"-they hoped Romney would make things so bad it would create a working class revolution.
http://revs4romney.org/
Things don'rt work this way.The best way is to openly and honestly confront them, even run openly socialist candidates to educate people.My organisation has been working on this with the Kshama Sawant campaign in Washington State and we are now running candidates in Boston and Minneapolis.

http://votesawant.org/

http://www.facebook.com/votewhelan.org

http://www.tymoore.org/

This is a way to fight the enemy.

[Hit The North]

People are already about as conscious as they are going to get, in my opinion. It's not an issue of consciousness of the masses of workers in America. It's an issue of misleadership of the class. They are currently being led by social-chauvinist and opportunist Labor Bureaucrats, who are bribed with imperialist superprofits.


If the level of consciousness of the North American proletariat cannot raise itself higher than its current level, then you can say goodbye to any hope of revolution in the USA.

I'd disagree and say that it is an issue of consciousness. In fact the crisis of leadership (or the misleadership as you call it) is explained by the level of consciousness of the American proletariat. If workers had a higher level of class consciousness then they would not be conned by the Democratic Party or union bureaucracy. The working class are hoodwinked by these forces mainly because they want to be. The notion that some guys on Capital Hill can solve your existential problems for you is attractive and more comforting than the notion that capital and its violent state needs to be overthrown through struggle and sacrifice. So while there is still some room for hope, the overwhelming majority of people will cling to bourgeois-democratic illusions.