Originally posted by
[email protected] 08, 2007 12:21 am
First of all. I've read up about CPUSA and of course I've heard it got loads of Soviet aid and was incredibly corrupt.
That's not especially true. It did get some Soviet aid. But the main reason that the CPUSA acted as a tool of Soviet foreign policy is because its members honestly believed that the USSR was the "workers fatherland" and anything that was good for the Kremlin was good for the workers of the world.
On that basis they followed every twist and turn of Soviet foreign policy, which most of the time meant supporting the more peaceable-seeming capitalist politicians. The road to complete political rottenness is paved with good intentions.
I've read all about SPUSA and i must admit i like it. What does everyone think of this party?
Democratic socialists thus making them even more reformist than the CPUSA.
Actually, no. The SPUSA is slightly to the left of the CPUSA - they don't always endorse Democrats for office.
And there are tendencies in the SPUSA who probably think of themselves as revolutionary. But the reformists will always manage to be the main face of the party - they have the famous names, the connections, and so forth. Even if the more radical elements won a vote at some conference, it wouldn't bind anyone or mean anything.
They are not revolutionary at all, but that's not the whole picture. Working with CPUSA or SPUSA and trying to tilt them in a revolutionary direction might be something to try. Has anyone attempted entryism?
A few people in the SPUSA. There's not much point since these are small groups - they don't have a mass working-class base like the French CP has, or like the British Labour Party used to.
That reduces both your chances of affecting them (a smaller, more ideologically cohesive, more middle-class membership) and how much you'd gain from doing so. I gotta say long-term entryism even in other countries hasn't produced revolutionary organizations.
ISR is the publication of the International Socialists Organization, I think. Not the worst organization out there, but certainly not revolutionary or working-class either. It's largely college-based, and thoroughly involved in supporting the middle-class, purely reform-oriented, economic nationalist Nader campaigns.
I'm all for fighting for reforms, as a means of building a revolutionary movement. Gaining experience at fighting.
But that supposes the political independence of the working class - something all of these groups (CPUSA, SPUSA, ISO) have abandoned by supporting big-business or middle-class candidates.
The organization I'd recommend most is the Socialist Workers Party (http://www.themilitant.com/direct.shtml). You can see how to contact a branch near you here (http://www.themilitant.com/direct.shtml)