Socialist Campaign in the USA

[JohnTheMarxist]

www.vote4workers.org

These campaigns are being run not win but to bring awareness to socialism:

The Parker-Gutierrez campaign will reach out to the class in society that is made up of the millions, not the millionaires. It will encourage mass action and class struggle and will warn all those struggling for a better world not to rely on capitalist elections to solve their problems. Their campaign will also extend a hand of solidarity to the most oppressed, many of whom to this day are still denied even a minute semblance of bourgeois democratic rights and fill the prisons in this country.

[SonofRage]

yay, Workers World Party. They've never seen a dictator they didn't like :D

[JohnTheMarxist]

Yay Socialist Party USA. It's never met a fluffy bunny liberal hippie douche it didnt want to join its party :D

[Colombia]

I wonder how long this one will last.

[Weidt]

I am a member of the Socialist Party USA, and I am greatly influenced by Karl Marx, Eugene Debs and Rosa Luxemburg. I oppose social democracy and embrace revolutionary democratic socialism. And I don't want liberals or hippies joining the Party, and when they ask I point them to the Green Party.

Anyway, your remark has no merit, whereas Sam's remark does. The WWP has a history of supporting authoritarian states and dictatorships like in N. Korea and China. They are apologists for Milosevic, and I believe even Saddam Hussein, but I could be wrong on the latter.

I don't see how you can assume the SPUSA wants liberals or hippies. Fluffy bunnies are fine though; at least they can be trained to serve working class interests. ;)

[antieverything]

Well seeing as the majority of SPers in my experience have been liberal-douches too caught up in political correctness and white guilt to have an original thought, I think the statements have a good bit of merit.

That being said I gravitate to the SP as well...though I think a joint membership in the IWW would be most fitting for my bizzare-ass beliefs. :rolleyes:

[SonofRage]

Originally posted by [email protected] 3 2004, 09:15 PM
Well seeing as the majority of SPers in my experience have been liberal-douches too caught up in political correctness and white guilt to have an original thought, I think the statements have a good bit of merit.

That being said I gravitate to the SP as well...though I think a joint membership in the IWW would be most fitting for my bizzare-ass beliefs. :rolleyes:
You're not so bizarre :D I'm a member of both the SP-USA and the IWW.

[Weidt]

Originally posted by [email protected] 3 2004, 10:15 PM
That being said I gravitate to the SP as well...though I think a joint membership in the IWW would be most fitting for my bizzare-ass beliefs. :rolleyes:
Join us, you know you want to... :)

[Rex_20XD6]

Originally posted by [email protected] 2 2004, 01:57 PM
I wonder how long this one will last.
Not long... I bet the rednecks would revolt and start a revolution. JK, im jokeing

[socialistfuture]

seems people get shit for being a part of any party on this website -

[h&s]

seems people get shit for being a part of any party on this website -
They tend to if they only belong to one party. As many parties oppose each other, many people don't like joining one as it isn't very good for a united left, and lets face it - without being united the left stands no chance.

[il Commie]

I know the SWP also runs a socialist campaign, and I wonder why the socialists/leftists don't run a joint list like the british "Socialist Alliance" or the israeli "Democratic Front for Peace and Equality"... I think it could get the attention of more people and maybe even be the start of an american labor party...

[antieverything]

The American Labor Party already exists...in fact, while Ralph Nader was running for president on the Green Party ticket, he wasn't a member of the GP. He was, however, a member of the Labor Party and pushed for the GP platform to mirror the Labor Party platform on labor issues!

Why don't the SWP, WWP, and SP all run on a joint ticket? Because they are completely different ideologically. WWP is Stalinist, SWP is Trotskiest/Castroist, and the SP is social democratic and democratic socialist. Of course, there have been some dialogues on the issue of a united left and the SP has been fully supportive. I'm not sure what other groups are involved. I think it is just DSA, SP, and Solidarity.

[Weidt]

At one time I was a strong supporter of regroupment, and I was involved in the drafting of the United Left Front Resolution adopted by the Socialist Party USA, which generally can be seen as the foundation of regroupment in America en route to a Socialist Alliance. (By the way, no parties have signed onto the SPUSA's call for a "united left front," though some parties are receptive, especially the Freedom Socialist Party. DSA is fundamentally left out due to its rejection of independent political action, and this would include the CPUSA too.)

Unfortunately, my zeal for "left unity" blinded me to the fact parties and organizations have specific reasons for being separate. For some it is ideological, tactical or strategic, or a combination of all three. Unity must be based on a common program; it must be principled unity. Unprincipled unity would do more harm than good, and such an unprincipled alliance would easily degenerate and schism back into separate parties.

Additionally, there are some serious questions of who you are trying to attract to socialism. For those like myself who rallied behind "left unity" as the "savior" of the "Left movement," there was one question - why don't groups unite? - and one answer - only together can we do anything. This breeds an immediate pessimism that without unity we will always fail, will always be small and will always remain "fractured."

The problem is not numerous parties. The problem is we do not focus on agitation. When your premise begins with "left unity" it is hard to accomplish much. The focus should be on recruiting the vast majority not even in the left movement, let alone the socialist movement. We shouldn't focus on influencing and uniting our small movement; we should focus on influencing and uniting our MASSIVE CLASS! That is where our strength and power is located.

I support regroupment; principled socialist unity with a common program. I believe the Socialist Party USA already provides the structure and mechanism for regroupment. The SPUSA is a multi-tendency party with a common program. If you share our principles you are welcome to join. Caucuses and tendencies are allowed, and I have no objection to a segment of the Party membership forming a tendency. In fact, I am a founding member of a left-wing revolutionary tendency in the SPUSA called the Debs Tendency. We are "a party within a party." That is fundamentally what a tendency is and it serves to influence the membership to its specific vision of the Party and socialism.

Lastly, I want to encourge every socialist to do what is best for his/her party or organization, and more importantly our class. If you are not affiliated with a party, then I encourage you to seek and learn about the various groups that exist and join the one you most agree with, and build it. A socialist without a party is like a worker without a union; s/he is alone, divided and super-exploited.

[Archpremier]

Who is a member of the CPUSA here? Too bad they haven't tried to field a candidate since the last time Sam Webb ran in... when?

[il Commie]

Weidt, thank you for your thoughtful reply. I would have a small problem joining your party, since I live in Israel ;) .

I can understand what you're saying about not forming one united party for all socialists. But why not a front? We in Israel formed the DFPE so that all supporters of social justice, peace and democratic freedoms, not necessarily communists/socialists could join us on elections and other oppurtunities in making the class struggle stronger. Divided it is hard for us to reach the working class, but united we have more people and power to fight for a basic class agenda! And it pretty much worked for us in Israel, the coalition DFPE receives usually most of the arab votes in Israel. Why do you think a coalition like this, with every party keeping it's own institutions and ideology, wouldn't work in the USA?

And the last thing is about tendencies - why do you think it's necessary? We in the Israeli Communist Party don't have them. If a member wants something in the party to change, he just tries to persuade other comrades and then we vote. Why forming parties within the party? Wouldn't it just let the inner debate out of the party, and break the democratic centralism?

[Raisa]

<<And the last thing is about tendencies - why do you think it&#39;s necessary? We in the Israeli Communist Party don&#39;t have them. If a member wants something in the party to change, he just tries to persuade other comrades and then we vote. Why forming parties within the party? Wouldn&#39;t it just let the inner debate out of the party, and break the democratic centralism? >>

I agree. Right now whats most important is class unity, not "politics". In my view the struggle exists reguardless and it is imperative that at least where we can we stand together in solidarity as socialists.