Kez
30th April 2002, 20:19
Socialist Appeal: On the Eve of Our Tenth Anniversary
By Alan Woods
Ten years ago this April, the Socialist Appeal was
launched as the journal of the Marxists in the British
Labour movement. We are on the eve of celebrating the
hundredth edition of the Appeal, and ten years of
tireless work in defending the ideas and principles of
Marxism on a world scale.
The ideas represented by Socialist Appeal and
Marxist.com have gained a considerable audience over
the last ten years. The launching of Marxist.com was
an important initiative. This was a big step forward,
which has made possible big advances in getting our
ideas known and entering new areas. The sheer volume
of our theoretical production has never been greater.
This has enabled us to break into new areas:
Indonesia, Turkey, Ireland, the Balkans, Russia, North
America and others.
Few would dispute the fact that our website is the
best in the world. It is increasingly a point of
reference for communist and socialist activists
everywhere. In 2001 alone we had over a million
successful page requests. This is a guarantee of our
future success. It should fill all our comrades with a
sense of pride and confidence in the Marxist tendency
in Britain and internationally.
We are determined that our theoretical work will be
continued and stepped up, and our use of the Internet
maximised. We are preparing new books and pamphlets
dealing with all aspects of Marxist theory. In this
way we can connect with the most advanced elements who
are looking for an alternative.
Marxism is Not Dead!
Socialist Appeal was launched under the most difficult
conditions. After the collapse of the Soviet Union,
many people thought that socialism was off the agenda.
A decade ago the bourgeois were euphoric. They talked
about the end of Communism, the end of Socialism, and
even the end of history. All the leading ideologues of
the bourgeoisie and the reformist labour and trade
union leaders proclaimed the death of Marxism.
After the collapse of the USSR, the bourgeois felt
that they were no longer threatened by "Communism".
The capitalist system (the "free market economy")
ruled supreme. The ruling class felt confident. They
dreamed of an economic boom that would last forever.
But time has moved on since then. Ten years have
passed since the collapse of the USSR. In that period,
the most profound changes have taken place, which are
transforming the situation on a world scale.
The euphoria of the defenders of the “market economy”
was short-lived. Now all their dreams are in ashes.
The entire situation has changed into its opposite.
All the declarations of the strategists of Capital are
filled with deep pessimism and foreboding. In a very
short time, the so-called free market economy has
revealed all its shortcomings. Capitalism has revealed
its reactionary character on a world scale.
In fact, we were never worried about the attacks on
Marxism. Marxism has been pronounced dead every year
for the last 150 years. One can believe many things of
the ruling class, but there is one thing which cannot
be believed. One cannot believe that they are
completely stupid. And it is unthinkable that they
would spend so much time and money attacking an idea
that is dead. On the contrary. The bourgeoisie only
attacks ideas that are very much alive and which pose
a mortal threat to their system.
Crisis of Capitalism
Marxism explains the historical process ultimately in
terms of the development of the productive forces. The
motor-force of capitalism is the production of
commodities, and especially capital goods. In the last
boom, the bourgeois of America and all other countries
invested colossal amounts on new technology, new plant
and machinery. This situation affected the psychology
of all classes.
The economists wrote about a "new economic paradigm".
The middle class (including the Labour bureaucracy)
followed the bourgeoisie and its “market” ideology.
The working class saw no alternative and sought
individual solutions to its problems. Despite the
extreme pressure on the workers, the debt, the long
hours of toil, the stress and exhaustion, it was
possible for a temporary period to obtain a relative
amelioration of living standards. The strength of
reformism and particularly its right wing (Blair, etc)
and the isolation and weakness of the forces of
Marxism were both predicated on this.
Now we see the other side of the process. The revolt
of the productive forces against the straitjackets of
private ownership and the national state is manifested
in the present global crisis. Unable to deny the facts
any longer, the bourgeois economists have admitted
that the US economy is in recession. The world
situation is characterised by increasing volatility at
every level. The fears of the strategists of capital
are expressed in one article after another. This
represents a turning point in the whole situation.
There is massive overproduction ("over capacity") on a
world scale. In Asia alone there is a huge productive
capacity which cannot be used. Even when this is
mopped up, it will not be possible to go back to the
type of feverish growth of the previous period. A
period of sluggish growth, accompanied by high
unemployment in all countries, will follow.
The present global instability, with a combination of
war and slump, is unprecedented since 1945. For a long
time the capitalist system experienced an
unprecedented upswing, with full employment and rising
living standards in the advanced capitalist countries,
and relative stability in the relations between
states. Now the world economy is entering into the
first simultaneous slump since 1974. This is an
unprecedented situation which is provoking deep
concern among the strategists of capital.
In economics, as in politics, US imperialism is faced
with the equivalent of bushfires everywhere. No sooner
do they put out one fire, than another one flares up
with even grater intensity. This is in itself a
graphic expression of the nature of the present epoch.
Who Are We?
The international Marxist tendency, represented in
Britain by the Socialist Appeal, is, in a formal
sense, very young. But in fact, it is very old. We
stand on the ideas of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky
which, in fundamentals, have not changed since the
publication of The Communist Manifesto over 150 years
ago. We stand on the titanic achievements of the
First, Second and Third internationals.
We also stand on the basis of the ideas of that great
revolutionary Marxist theoretician and martyr of the
working class - Leon Trotsky - on the ideas of the
International Left Opposition and the founding
documents of the Fourth International.
In the person of Comrade Ted Grant, we stand for the
continuation of the ideas of Trotsky. This year is
also the seventy-fifth anniversary of the expulsion of
Leon Trotsky and the Left Opposition from the Russian
Communist Party. Comrade Grant was a member of
Trotsky's International Left Opposition from the very
beginning. He represents an unbroken thread that
connects us to the finest traditions of
Bolshevism-Leninism and the October revolution.
Under the most difficult conditions, Trotsky and the
International Left Opposition fought to rescue the
genuine traditions of October. At that time, the
current of Trotskyism was respected by working class
activists everywhere. Unfortunately, these great
traditions were discarded and betrayed by the
sectarians who usurped the banner of the Fourth
International after the death of the Old Man.
The Unbroken Thread
We thus represent an unbroken tradition for over
seventy years of struggle to defend the authentic
ideas of Marxism. Of course, the Marxists are faced
with tremendous problems and obstacles at every step.
But we are used to this. We have shown that we are
able to resist the pressures. This depends in the
first place and above all on a correct political line,
and a scientific understanding of society and the
class struggle. But ideas in and of themselves are not
enough. It is necessary to build an organised
tendency.
In Britain, over a period of forty years and more, we
built the most successful Trotskyist movement since
the Russian Left Opposition. Unfortunately, these
colossal gains were thrown away by ultra-left
elements. Ten years ago, in Britain and
internationally, we broke with those who wished to
abandon these traditions and lead the movement down
the road of sterile sectarianism, and undo the results
of decades of work in the Labour Party and the trade
unions.
Ten years later, the facts speak for themselves. Those
myopic sectarians who imagined that it was sufficient
to walk out of the Labour Party and proclaim
themselves to be "The Party" have only succeeded in
wrecking the movement. They are now not even a
footnote to history.
The bourgeois, the right wing and the ultra-lefts all
imagined that the Marxist tendency was finished. But
we have proved them wrong. There are times in history
when just to hold the movement together is itself a
victory. Despite all difficulties, over the past
decade we have managed to hold our forces together. By
contrast, almost all the sects are in crisis, losing
members and splitting. This is the result of their
complete lack of understanding, especially of how the
working class moves. They have no conception of theory
and no clear orientation to the class.
We have succeeded in retying the knot of history,
rebuilding what had been destroyed and assembling the
cadres under a new and clean banner. Together with
co-thinkers in different countries, we have worked to
rebuild the Marxist tendency on the basis of the ideas
of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky. After quite a
difficult period, the forces of Marxism are going
forward in Britain and internationally.
Our work is being helped by a change in the objective
situation. Everywhere there is a thirst for ideas and
theory among the youth and the advanced workers. In
many countries and continents the audience for our
ideas is growing, and we are winning new supporters
all the time. This is no accident. It reflects in part
the beginnings of a change in the objective situation,
but also the fact that the correctness of our ideas
has been demonstrated by the course of events.
However, ideas without organisation is like a knife
without a blade. In a Bolshevik organisation, there is
no Chinese wall separating theory and practice. Our
theory, programme and perspectives must be expressed
in organisational forms, or they will never be put
into practice. Above all it is necessary to find a
road to the mass of the working class, beginning with
the active layer in the trade unions and the mass
socialist and communist parties.
Turn to the Mass Organisations!
A revolutionary tendency must have a perspective, but
also a strategy for growth. In building the Marxist
movement, there are no shortcuts or panaceas. The
small ultra-left sects on the fringes of the Labour
movement, who spend all their time building phantom
"revolutionary parties" of half a dozen people, do not
even understand the nature of the problem of
party-building. They do not understand that it is not
sufficient to proclaim the superiority of Marxism. It
is necessary to educate the cadres not only with
theory, but through patient work in the mass
organisations of the working class.
We have a dual task: a theoretical task, of patiently
explaining our ideas, raising the level of the
advanced guard; and building the Marxist tendency. We
must not succumb to the pressures of the existing
situation, but understand the perspectives and the
processes at work under the surface.
For the past twenty years, the workers' organisations
have lived through a period of defeats and setbacks.
Looking back, many activists see nothing but defeats.
Not having the advantage of a Marxist perspective,
they do not understand how the class moves and have
therefore drawn the most pessimistic conclusions.
However, this psychology - which they mistakenly
regard as "realism" - reflects this past, not the
present or the future.
The class struggle will continue, no matter what the
Labour and trade union leaders say or do. Of course,
the union apparatus if powerful and can hold back the
movement for a time. But this will only give it an
even more explosive character when it finally bursts
through. If the unions act as an obstacle, there will
be a wave of unofficial strikes, which will later end
in official action. The main thing is to see that an
explosive mood is building up under the surface of
apparent calm.
In the next period the crisis of capitalism will find
its expression in crises within the mass organisations
of the working class. The hold of the right wing
leadership will be broken. The unions and parties will
be shaken from top to bottom, preparing the way for
the formation of mass left reformist and centrist
tendencies. The Marxists must be capable of winning
over the leftward-moving workers and youth. This means
that we must maintain our unswerving orientation to
the mass organisations of the class.
Build the Forces of Marxism!
From our perspectives certain things flow. We must
give a sense of urgency to the task of building and
strengthening the Marxist tendency, in order to
prepare for the great tasks that might descend upon us
sooner than we imagine. The sudden explosion in
Argentina shows what will happen in one country after
another. We must be prepared.
The political authority of our tendency on a world
scale has never been higher. The quantity and quality
of our written material has never been greater in the
history of the last fifty years. That is the
fundamental reason for our success. We are moving into
a decisive period in history. Provided we take the
necessary steps to build and strengthen the tendency
in time, big possibilities will begin to emerge in one
country after another. But the prior condition for
success is that we should be in a position to take
advantage of them.
Ideas must be expressed in action. It is necessary to
get organised to fight against capitalism and
imperialism. We must be at the forefront of this
struggle at all levels. In this we have a proud
record, as shown by our reaction to the recent events.
We issued our first statement on the September 11
events the very same day, and following up with
regular timely analysis, and also tactical advice and
directives, including the slogan of anti-war
committees, which were put into practice by our
supporters in different countries.
On a world scale, events are moving fast. Everywhere
the ruling class is faced with growing instability,
wars and crises. The problems of humanity cannot be
solved by capitalism, a diseased system which condemns
millions of men, women and children to a life of
poverty, wars, unemployment, sickness, ignorance and
oppression.
The mood in the international Marxist tendency on its
tenth anniversary is overwhelmingly optimistic and
enthusiastic. This is a decisive fact - and it has a
political basis. The correctness of our ideas fills us
with confidence. Confidence in the ideas of Marxism.
Confidence in the world working class. Confidence in
ourselves.
The key to tomorrow’s victories is the work that we do
today. We must all approach the task of building the
tendency with a spirit of urgency and the
revolutionary determination to overcome all obstacles.
The work of educating and training Marxist cadres and
integrating them in the mass organisations of the
working class is the prior condition for the creation,
first of a mass Marxist tendency, and then a mass
Marxist party and an International which is really
capable of leading the working class to the socialist
transformation of society, nationally and
internationally.
London,
January 25, 2002
By Alan Woods
Ten years ago this April, the Socialist Appeal was
launched as the journal of the Marxists in the British
Labour movement. We are on the eve of celebrating the
hundredth edition of the Appeal, and ten years of
tireless work in defending the ideas and principles of
Marxism on a world scale.
The ideas represented by Socialist Appeal and
Marxist.com have gained a considerable audience over
the last ten years. The launching of Marxist.com was
an important initiative. This was a big step forward,
which has made possible big advances in getting our
ideas known and entering new areas. The sheer volume
of our theoretical production has never been greater.
This has enabled us to break into new areas:
Indonesia, Turkey, Ireland, the Balkans, Russia, North
America and others.
Few would dispute the fact that our website is the
best in the world. It is increasingly a point of
reference for communist and socialist activists
everywhere. In 2001 alone we had over a million
successful page requests. This is a guarantee of our
future success. It should fill all our comrades with a
sense of pride and confidence in the Marxist tendency
in Britain and internationally.
We are determined that our theoretical work will be
continued and stepped up, and our use of the Internet
maximised. We are preparing new books and pamphlets
dealing with all aspects of Marxist theory. In this
way we can connect with the most advanced elements who
are looking for an alternative.
Marxism is Not Dead!
Socialist Appeal was launched under the most difficult
conditions. After the collapse of the Soviet Union,
many people thought that socialism was off the agenda.
A decade ago the bourgeois were euphoric. They talked
about the end of Communism, the end of Socialism, and
even the end of history. All the leading ideologues of
the bourgeoisie and the reformist labour and trade
union leaders proclaimed the death of Marxism.
After the collapse of the USSR, the bourgeois felt
that they were no longer threatened by "Communism".
The capitalist system (the "free market economy")
ruled supreme. The ruling class felt confident. They
dreamed of an economic boom that would last forever.
But time has moved on since then. Ten years have
passed since the collapse of the USSR. In that period,
the most profound changes have taken place, which are
transforming the situation on a world scale.
The euphoria of the defenders of the “market economy”
was short-lived. Now all their dreams are in ashes.
The entire situation has changed into its opposite.
All the declarations of the strategists of Capital are
filled with deep pessimism and foreboding. In a very
short time, the so-called free market economy has
revealed all its shortcomings. Capitalism has revealed
its reactionary character on a world scale.
In fact, we were never worried about the attacks on
Marxism. Marxism has been pronounced dead every year
for the last 150 years. One can believe many things of
the ruling class, but there is one thing which cannot
be believed. One cannot believe that they are
completely stupid. And it is unthinkable that they
would spend so much time and money attacking an idea
that is dead. On the contrary. The bourgeoisie only
attacks ideas that are very much alive and which pose
a mortal threat to their system.
Crisis of Capitalism
Marxism explains the historical process ultimately in
terms of the development of the productive forces. The
motor-force of capitalism is the production of
commodities, and especially capital goods. In the last
boom, the bourgeois of America and all other countries
invested colossal amounts on new technology, new plant
and machinery. This situation affected the psychology
of all classes.
The economists wrote about a "new economic paradigm".
The middle class (including the Labour bureaucracy)
followed the bourgeoisie and its “market” ideology.
The working class saw no alternative and sought
individual solutions to its problems. Despite the
extreme pressure on the workers, the debt, the long
hours of toil, the stress and exhaustion, it was
possible for a temporary period to obtain a relative
amelioration of living standards. The strength of
reformism and particularly its right wing (Blair, etc)
and the isolation and weakness of the forces of
Marxism were both predicated on this.
Now we see the other side of the process. The revolt
of the productive forces against the straitjackets of
private ownership and the national state is manifested
in the present global crisis. Unable to deny the facts
any longer, the bourgeois economists have admitted
that the US economy is in recession. The world
situation is characterised by increasing volatility at
every level. The fears of the strategists of capital
are expressed in one article after another. This
represents a turning point in the whole situation.
There is massive overproduction ("over capacity") on a
world scale. In Asia alone there is a huge productive
capacity which cannot be used. Even when this is
mopped up, it will not be possible to go back to the
type of feverish growth of the previous period. A
period of sluggish growth, accompanied by high
unemployment in all countries, will follow.
The present global instability, with a combination of
war and slump, is unprecedented since 1945. For a long
time the capitalist system experienced an
unprecedented upswing, with full employment and rising
living standards in the advanced capitalist countries,
and relative stability in the relations between
states. Now the world economy is entering into the
first simultaneous slump since 1974. This is an
unprecedented situation which is provoking deep
concern among the strategists of capital.
In economics, as in politics, US imperialism is faced
with the equivalent of bushfires everywhere. No sooner
do they put out one fire, than another one flares up
with even grater intensity. This is in itself a
graphic expression of the nature of the present epoch.
Who Are We?
The international Marxist tendency, represented in
Britain by the Socialist Appeal, is, in a formal
sense, very young. But in fact, it is very old. We
stand on the ideas of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky
which, in fundamentals, have not changed since the
publication of The Communist Manifesto over 150 years
ago. We stand on the titanic achievements of the
First, Second and Third internationals.
We also stand on the basis of the ideas of that great
revolutionary Marxist theoretician and martyr of the
working class - Leon Trotsky - on the ideas of the
International Left Opposition and the founding
documents of the Fourth International.
In the person of Comrade Ted Grant, we stand for the
continuation of the ideas of Trotsky. This year is
also the seventy-fifth anniversary of the expulsion of
Leon Trotsky and the Left Opposition from the Russian
Communist Party. Comrade Grant was a member of
Trotsky's International Left Opposition from the very
beginning. He represents an unbroken thread that
connects us to the finest traditions of
Bolshevism-Leninism and the October revolution.
Under the most difficult conditions, Trotsky and the
International Left Opposition fought to rescue the
genuine traditions of October. At that time, the
current of Trotskyism was respected by working class
activists everywhere. Unfortunately, these great
traditions were discarded and betrayed by the
sectarians who usurped the banner of the Fourth
International after the death of the Old Man.
The Unbroken Thread
We thus represent an unbroken tradition for over
seventy years of struggle to defend the authentic
ideas of Marxism. Of course, the Marxists are faced
with tremendous problems and obstacles at every step.
But we are used to this. We have shown that we are
able to resist the pressures. This depends in the
first place and above all on a correct political line,
and a scientific understanding of society and the
class struggle. But ideas in and of themselves are not
enough. It is necessary to build an organised
tendency.
In Britain, over a period of forty years and more, we
built the most successful Trotskyist movement since
the Russian Left Opposition. Unfortunately, these
colossal gains were thrown away by ultra-left
elements. Ten years ago, in Britain and
internationally, we broke with those who wished to
abandon these traditions and lead the movement down
the road of sterile sectarianism, and undo the results
of decades of work in the Labour Party and the trade
unions.
Ten years later, the facts speak for themselves. Those
myopic sectarians who imagined that it was sufficient
to walk out of the Labour Party and proclaim
themselves to be "The Party" have only succeeded in
wrecking the movement. They are now not even a
footnote to history.
The bourgeois, the right wing and the ultra-lefts all
imagined that the Marxist tendency was finished. But
we have proved them wrong. There are times in history
when just to hold the movement together is itself a
victory. Despite all difficulties, over the past
decade we have managed to hold our forces together. By
contrast, almost all the sects are in crisis, losing
members and splitting. This is the result of their
complete lack of understanding, especially of how the
working class moves. They have no conception of theory
and no clear orientation to the class.
We have succeeded in retying the knot of history,
rebuilding what had been destroyed and assembling the
cadres under a new and clean banner. Together with
co-thinkers in different countries, we have worked to
rebuild the Marxist tendency on the basis of the ideas
of Marx, Engels, Lenin and Trotsky. After quite a
difficult period, the forces of Marxism are going
forward in Britain and internationally.
Our work is being helped by a change in the objective
situation. Everywhere there is a thirst for ideas and
theory among the youth and the advanced workers. In
many countries and continents the audience for our
ideas is growing, and we are winning new supporters
all the time. This is no accident. It reflects in part
the beginnings of a change in the objective situation,
but also the fact that the correctness of our ideas
has been demonstrated by the course of events.
However, ideas without organisation is like a knife
without a blade. In a Bolshevik organisation, there is
no Chinese wall separating theory and practice. Our
theory, programme and perspectives must be expressed
in organisational forms, or they will never be put
into practice. Above all it is necessary to find a
road to the mass of the working class, beginning with
the active layer in the trade unions and the mass
socialist and communist parties.
Turn to the Mass Organisations!
A revolutionary tendency must have a perspective, but
also a strategy for growth. In building the Marxist
movement, there are no shortcuts or panaceas. The
small ultra-left sects on the fringes of the Labour
movement, who spend all their time building phantom
"revolutionary parties" of half a dozen people, do not
even understand the nature of the problem of
party-building. They do not understand that it is not
sufficient to proclaim the superiority of Marxism. It
is necessary to educate the cadres not only with
theory, but through patient work in the mass
organisations of the working class.
We have a dual task: a theoretical task, of patiently
explaining our ideas, raising the level of the
advanced guard; and building the Marxist tendency. We
must not succumb to the pressures of the existing
situation, but understand the perspectives and the
processes at work under the surface.
For the past twenty years, the workers' organisations
have lived through a period of defeats and setbacks.
Looking back, many activists see nothing but defeats.
Not having the advantage of a Marxist perspective,
they do not understand how the class moves and have
therefore drawn the most pessimistic conclusions.
However, this psychology - which they mistakenly
regard as "realism" - reflects this past, not the
present or the future.
The class struggle will continue, no matter what the
Labour and trade union leaders say or do. Of course,
the union apparatus if powerful and can hold back the
movement for a time. But this will only give it an
even more explosive character when it finally bursts
through. If the unions act as an obstacle, there will
be a wave of unofficial strikes, which will later end
in official action. The main thing is to see that an
explosive mood is building up under the surface of
apparent calm.
In the next period the crisis of capitalism will find
its expression in crises within the mass organisations
of the working class. The hold of the right wing
leadership will be broken. The unions and parties will
be shaken from top to bottom, preparing the way for
the formation of mass left reformist and centrist
tendencies. The Marxists must be capable of winning
over the leftward-moving workers and youth. This means
that we must maintain our unswerving orientation to
the mass organisations of the class.
Build the Forces of Marxism!
From our perspectives certain things flow. We must
give a sense of urgency to the task of building and
strengthening the Marxist tendency, in order to
prepare for the great tasks that might descend upon us
sooner than we imagine. The sudden explosion in
Argentina shows what will happen in one country after
another. We must be prepared.
The political authority of our tendency on a world
scale has never been higher. The quantity and quality
of our written material has never been greater in the
history of the last fifty years. That is the
fundamental reason for our success. We are moving into
a decisive period in history. Provided we take the
necessary steps to build and strengthen the tendency
in time, big possibilities will begin to emerge in one
country after another. But the prior condition for
success is that we should be in a position to take
advantage of them.
Ideas must be expressed in action. It is necessary to
get organised to fight against capitalism and
imperialism. We must be at the forefront of this
struggle at all levels. In this we have a proud
record, as shown by our reaction to the recent events.
We issued our first statement on the September 11
events the very same day, and following up with
regular timely analysis, and also tactical advice and
directives, including the slogan of anti-war
committees, which were put into practice by our
supporters in different countries.
On a world scale, events are moving fast. Everywhere
the ruling class is faced with growing instability,
wars and crises. The problems of humanity cannot be
solved by capitalism, a diseased system which condemns
millions of men, women and children to a life of
poverty, wars, unemployment, sickness, ignorance and
oppression.
The mood in the international Marxist tendency on its
tenth anniversary is overwhelmingly optimistic and
enthusiastic. This is a decisive fact - and it has a
political basis. The correctness of our ideas fills us
with confidence. Confidence in the ideas of Marxism.
Confidence in the world working class. Confidence in
ourselves.
The key to tomorrow’s victories is the work that we do
today. We must all approach the task of building the
tendency with a spirit of urgency and the
revolutionary determination to overcome all obstacles.
The work of educating and training Marxist cadres and
integrating them in the mass organisations of the
working class is the prior condition for the creation,
first of a mass Marxist tendency, and then a mass
Marxist party and an International which is really
capable of leading the working class to the socialist
transformation of society, nationally and
internationally.
London,
January 25, 2002