What should Left Communists do?

I've decided to put some of my thoughts here about some issues which are troubling me for some time. I’ve started to discuss some of this stuff with some of my comrades from Croatia, but also with comrade Android from ICT with who I discuss stuff almost every day, but I’ve decided to write some stuff here because I’d like to hear more opinions. Also, before I start I have to say once again that before I’ve got into left communism I was a member of anarcho-syndicalist group so maybe some of stuff I write here is related with that ideology/praxis.

So, I’ll be really straight... When it comes to left communism biggest question to me is: what do left communists do? I’m not “mindless activist” for sake of activism, nor do I support that practice, but I have to say that, even I’ve discussed this questions to various comrades both from ICC and ICT, there’s still really big question mark above my head. So, what do left communists do?

I think that left communists are right when they condemn activism and voluntarism as harmful manifestations, but then again I believe (from my not too detail observation of left communist organisations and movement) that left communist maybe went to other extreme. As I’ve noticed left communist groups are mostly concentrated on their publications and websites. A lot of discussions and articles left communist groups produce are “useless” to anyone but to other left communists or Marxists (or anarchists). When I say that I don’t mean that they are useless or bad or anything like that, but I mean that they are oriented to questions which only left communists raise. Working class doesn’t care about that, because they are not able to raise such ideological questions...

On the other hand, nobody knows for left communism. Invisibility of left communism isn’t just product counterrevolution or capitalist ideological system, but it’s also product of praxis of group. I’ve mentioned this orientation towards only writing etc. So, how do we make left communist ideas visible to working class? What shall we do? Everyone is talking about how working class will raise and we should wait them with “right program”... but working class doesn’t care about ideological stuff they don’t understand. They care about action... and it’s true that they’ll rise, but they’ll go firstly to social-democrats (aka. Trots) and when they get disappointed with them, they’ll go to anarchists. Actually, tbh I can see that anarchist groups do a lot of good work (even if I don’t agree with them)... So, if we want to introduce someone to left communism etc. we must make our alternatives visible... So, what do we do? What should we do?

I hope that this all makes sense to you comrades. It’s little bit chaotic, but these are some of my thoughts, because I’m thinking what to do here in Croatia.

Many of the younger generation are interested in left communism because it has 'good ideas' but actually get involved in anarchist groups because they seem to 'do' more stuff.

This is one reason why did I remain in MASA and get in touch with ICC later.

There is a problem of a false separation between theory and practice here, which I don't think you address sufficiently in your post. For example, with the anarcho-syndicalists and the class struggle: some of their groups and comrades do some very solid work at the workplace but they also tend to be very ambiguous about the trade unions: often their members, while nominally in favour of new 'revolutionary unions', recruit people for the existing unions and serve as lower level union reps, which causes a great deal of confusion. Left communists are trying to be consistent between their theory of unions and their actual practice, which means that most of them reject taking positions as shop stewards (which offers all kinds of opportunities for 'doing' stuff). But I don't think this means that their workplace practice is abstract. On the contrary: they can be involved in strikes and protests and fight for workers' autonomy to be put into practice through assemblies, militant workers' groups and so on. The two main left communist groups can point to many examples where their members have been directly involved in such activities. However, we are not defined simply by our place at work (or study) but as communists take part in much wider intervention, whether in the general struggles of the class, social movements like the ones we saw last year (where I would say many left communists also played a very concrete role where they could) or on issues like war, political and economic crisis, etc.

I agree that I haven stress a lot of things and as I said my post was little bit chaotic. It was a brainstorm... But, to answer you here... Of course, I don’t that that we can or should separate theory from practice. They go hand by hand. If you don’t have revolutionary theory your practice will be reformist, but also you can have “the most revolutionary” (I know that this sounds stupid, it’s just a phrase for purpose of discussion) theory ever, but what does it worth if you are invisible to working class? Purpose of theory is to put it in practice. So, my question is how can we do that? Example of anarcho-syndicalist groups you gave is certainly valid and I share your concerns (even my group never had any relationship with unions and I think that this is more of a SolFed thing than anarcho-syndicalist in general), but I’d like to put here emphasize on us – left communists – without too much “excursions” in other tendencies. We condemn them for a reason, but I wouldn’t like to go much into these reasons, because it’s kind of an off topic.

When I discuss practice with left communists, you mostly talk about interventions in struggles, but these struggles don’t happen often and organisations can’t predict (which is good) when will they happen. So, what should we do in between? It’s not enough just to prepare for interventions in such struggles, there must be some kind of plan what to do in between. How to present ideas outsides of struggles? Of course, I’m not advocating “activism” in a sense of making some pointless campaigns (like anarchists do in Croatia and Serbia), participating in reformist initiatives etc., but groups must have continues work behind them, because if they don’t have, no-one will recognise them, no-one will care for them or their politics.

It's certainly true that the left communists need to develop ways of presenting their politics which are accessible to wider numbers of people but again the clarity that they reach at the more theoretical level is essential if they are to write comprehensible, simple but politically clear propaganda articles and agitational leaflets, or to speak in a relevant way at political meetings, demonstrations, etc.

I agree with this, but I’ll pun also big empathise how to make working class read your articles. Is it enough just to post them on your website or put them in your papers/magazines? How will working class find out for your website, papers or magazines?

Anyway, this is just a quick reply to get the discussion moving. Perhaps you can go into more detail about what you think left communists should be doing in practice.

I appreciate your replay and I hope that more comrades will engage in this discussion so that we exchange different ideas... To be honest, I don’t have many ideas. I was thinking what can I do in Zagreb (where I’m on collage) and in Osijek (in my hometown) which are two completely different worlds. I was thinking of making some kind of poster-papers (newspapers on one A3 paper which I’d stick on the wall) which I could post near places where working class people hang (workplaces, the rest of factories, clubs, student clubs etc), to make some kind of bulletins which I could give to some union people I know who will give it to workers in their unions (one “radical” union in Croatia even has Marxist library where you can put stuff like that and workers go to read), or to make some stickers with website link and some interesting message/graphic... I don’t know much... all these stuff I’ve just mention are kind of funny and stupid, but on the other hand a lot of people here don’t use Internet, so there’s no use of only having website and also Internet is quite alienating. I really have big problem with alienation which Internet is creating, because when you give bulletin or leaflet to someone, you can engage in discussion and on Internet people read and press Facebook “like button”... There’s no use of that.

Nobody likes me, or what?

I'm sure it's not that. Most of the left communists I know are a bit busy doing things.

Oh, that was just my way to say "bump", which is Internet stuff you write when you wanna draw attention on thread... and I'm interested toughts on this issue Sorry for being impatient hehe

But it seems to me that comrades in Croatia and Serbia are already moving past that stage.

Well, only few of us moved... Unlike Birov (Serbia), Svjetska revolucija (Croatia) isn't consisted only of ex-anarchists... Actually, I'm the only one hehe