Social Greenman
30th December 2005, 14:36
Hi,
I have been writing a friend of mine and his thought on revolution were...
De Leonists believe, and I believe, that we can't do the revolution without
political action--unless we want to do it illegally. The peaceful ballot is
the hallmark of a civilized, modern society, and we must build socialism on
that foundation, or else chance having it called illegitimate and
undemocratic. Then, the ruling class might feel justified in tearing it
down.
I really don't know if this is possible to use the ballot box as a means to tell the ruling class that the majority of workers want to take over the means of production. Lately, I have come to believe that the owners (bosses) would not even allow for such a ballot to exist. And if it did thugs and police would make sure no one cast a ballot.
Those who seek political office to take seats in congress or the senate usually are assimilated into capitalist politics. In other words, those who are to be representatives end up being stooges for the capitalist class. I do know that capitalist will do things illegally and have a judge rule in their favor. The clause in the Constitution does states that if push comes to shove the people of the U.S. can dismiss the present government in favor for a new one--or lack of one. I don't think those in government will allow it to come to pass. Not when there is a new generation to exploit and put out of work, poorer nations to rob,
Here is an excerpt from The American Labor Movement: A New Begining by Sam Dolgoff. The Section on the Labor Party Illusion:
Labor parties are no more immune to the diseases inherent in the parliamentary system than are other political parties. If the new Labor Party legislators are elected, they will have to "play the game" according to the established rules and customs. If they are honest, they will soon become cynical and corrupted and will be swallowed up by the machine. Most of them, however, will find their new environment to their taste because they have already learned to connive when they were operating as big wheels in their own union organizations. The administration of most labor unions are patterned after governmental forms of political parliamentary democracy. A course in the school of labor fakery prepares the graduates for participation in municipal, state and national government. When they take political office, they will not represent the union members, but rather, the political machine that controls their labor organization.
By way of illustration, let us assume that a strong Labor Party in the United States has finally succeeded in electing thousands of local, state and national officeholders--as has happened in England, France, Germany and other countries. The history of parliamentary labor and socialist party movements in Europe gives us a good idea of what is most likely to happen to a similar movement in the United States .
The record of the Labor Government which ruled Britain from 1945 to 1951 proves that it betrayed every socialist principle and violated nearly all its pre-election pledges. These betrayals were reflected in both its domestic and foreign policies. The direction of Labor Government policy was clearly formulated by a high Labor Party official, Sir Hartley Shawcross, in February 1946:
. . . I take the opportunity of making it quite clear that this government like any other government as an employer, would feel itself perfectly free to take disciplinary action that any strike situation which might develop demanded....
The Labor Party had pledged itself not to use troops as strikebreakers. Only six days after coming to power the Labor Government ordered troops to break the strike of the London dock workers. This was repeated three months later. The government also decreed wage freezes and compulsory arbitration.
The principle behind these domestic policies also guided the Labor Party government's action in foreign and colonial affairs. Before dropping the atom bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima in August 1945, President Truman had obtained the approval of the British Labor Government. The military adventures in Greece, Egypt, Iran, Indonesia, Korea, and elsewhere caused an increase in military spending from 692 million pounds in 1948 to 1032 million pounds in 1951. One hundred and thirty six Spanish anti-fascists were deported into the arms of Franco to certain imprisonment, perhaps torture and death.
The Labor government's defeat in the last general elections was primarily due to the justified disappointment to the workers with its actions and policies while in office. In 1945, Arthur Greenwood (Labor Government Privy Seal) declared:
. . . I look around my colleagues and I see landlords, capitalists and lawyers. We are a cross-section of the national life and this is something that has never happened before....
It is impossible for any political party of "Labor" to reach power without concessions to the "right," to the middle class and other groupings thereby violating basic principles. Labor or Socialist parties lose their identity and eventually are found to differ only on relatively minor points from the non or anti-labor contenders for power. Labor Partyism is class-collaboration in the political field and it is just as disastrous for the working class as classcollaboration on the economic field. There is every reason to believe that the same fate would befall an American Labor Party if one is established. Advocates of a Labor Party in the United States could profit by the lessons of the British Labor Party.
http://www.anarchosyndicalism.net/theory/labor.htm
I have been writing a friend of mine and his thought on revolution were...
De Leonists believe, and I believe, that we can't do the revolution without
political action--unless we want to do it illegally. The peaceful ballot is
the hallmark of a civilized, modern society, and we must build socialism on
that foundation, or else chance having it called illegitimate and
undemocratic. Then, the ruling class might feel justified in tearing it
down.
I really don't know if this is possible to use the ballot box as a means to tell the ruling class that the majority of workers want to take over the means of production. Lately, I have come to believe that the owners (bosses) would not even allow for such a ballot to exist. And if it did thugs and police would make sure no one cast a ballot.
Those who seek political office to take seats in congress or the senate usually are assimilated into capitalist politics. In other words, those who are to be representatives end up being stooges for the capitalist class. I do know that capitalist will do things illegally and have a judge rule in their favor. The clause in the Constitution does states that if push comes to shove the people of the U.S. can dismiss the present government in favor for a new one--or lack of one. I don't think those in government will allow it to come to pass. Not when there is a new generation to exploit and put out of work, poorer nations to rob,
Here is an excerpt from The American Labor Movement: A New Begining by Sam Dolgoff. The Section on the Labor Party Illusion:
Labor parties are no more immune to the diseases inherent in the parliamentary system than are other political parties. If the new Labor Party legislators are elected, they will have to "play the game" according to the established rules and customs. If they are honest, they will soon become cynical and corrupted and will be swallowed up by the machine. Most of them, however, will find their new environment to their taste because they have already learned to connive when they were operating as big wheels in their own union organizations. The administration of most labor unions are patterned after governmental forms of political parliamentary democracy. A course in the school of labor fakery prepares the graduates for participation in municipal, state and national government. When they take political office, they will not represent the union members, but rather, the political machine that controls their labor organization.
By way of illustration, let us assume that a strong Labor Party in the United States has finally succeeded in electing thousands of local, state and national officeholders--as has happened in England, France, Germany and other countries. The history of parliamentary labor and socialist party movements in Europe gives us a good idea of what is most likely to happen to a similar movement in the United States .
The record of the Labor Government which ruled Britain from 1945 to 1951 proves that it betrayed every socialist principle and violated nearly all its pre-election pledges. These betrayals were reflected in both its domestic and foreign policies. The direction of Labor Government policy was clearly formulated by a high Labor Party official, Sir Hartley Shawcross, in February 1946:
. . . I take the opportunity of making it quite clear that this government like any other government as an employer, would feel itself perfectly free to take disciplinary action that any strike situation which might develop demanded....
The Labor Party had pledged itself not to use troops as strikebreakers. Only six days after coming to power the Labor Government ordered troops to break the strike of the London dock workers. This was repeated three months later. The government also decreed wage freezes and compulsory arbitration.
The principle behind these domestic policies also guided the Labor Party government's action in foreign and colonial affairs. Before dropping the atom bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima in August 1945, President Truman had obtained the approval of the British Labor Government. The military adventures in Greece, Egypt, Iran, Indonesia, Korea, and elsewhere caused an increase in military spending from 692 million pounds in 1948 to 1032 million pounds in 1951. One hundred and thirty six Spanish anti-fascists were deported into the arms of Franco to certain imprisonment, perhaps torture and death.
The Labor government's defeat in the last general elections was primarily due to the justified disappointment to the workers with its actions and policies while in office. In 1945, Arthur Greenwood (Labor Government Privy Seal) declared:
. . . I look around my colleagues and I see landlords, capitalists and lawyers. We are a cross-section of the national life and this is something that has never happened before....
It is impossible for any political party of "Labor" to reach power without concessions to the "right," to the middle class and other groupings thereby violating basic principles. Labor or Socialist parties lose their identity and eventually are found to differ only on relatively minor points from the non or anti-labor contenders for power. Labor Partyism is class-collaboration in the political field and it is just as disastrous for the working class as classcollaboration on the economic field. There is every reason to believe that the same fate would befall an American Labor Party if one is established. Advocates of a Labor Party in the United States could profit by the lessons of the British Labor Party.
http://www.anarchosyndicalism.net/theory/labor.htm