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Socialist parties in the U.S.
I've been doing some reading on the various socialist/communist parties in the U.S. and I've got a question. I've read over the platform of both the Communist Party U.S.A. and the Socialist Party U.S.A. and honestly they both same very similar and I was just wondering if anyone here was familiar with either of them could maybe tell the difference? I read the wikipedia articles and it says the Socialist Party spilt from the Communist Party because they support Trotsky as opposed to Stalin.
CP-USA is generally not popular among most of the American left because they typically support the Democratic Party in most elections, buying into the "lesser of two evils" race to the bottom.
SP-USA has many tendencies ranging from social democrats to revolutionary socialists, and has some degree of popularity on the left (certainly more than CP-USA at least). I hope you've been reading about other parties on the American left, because there's tons of socialist/communist parties.
You're thinking of the Socialist Workers' Party of America, a Trotskyist Organization which split from the Communist Party. That Party is no longer active though.
The Communist Party still adopts some tenets of the Comintern and lays Claim to the Leninist ideology. The Socialist Party is multi-tendency, you can even be an Anarchist and be a Socialist party member. The Communist Party USA still calls for revolution, while it being pacifist it is still different from the Socialist Party which rejects revolution.
Honestly both Parties aren't amazing. The Socialist Labor Party is nice Revolutionary alternative to both, although it is pretty much dead. If I had to choose one of the parties, Socialist Party USA hands down for its plurality of currents.
Make no mistake: The organization of the working class must be both economic and political. The capitalist is organized upon both lines. You must attack him on both.
Daniel De Leon
The most important word in the language of the working class is solidarity.
Harry Bridges
My Blog:
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Dont bother with the CP-USA
FKA Vacant
"snook up behind him and took his koran, he said sumthin about burnin the koran. i was like DUDE YOU HAVE NO KORAN and ran off." - Jacob Isom, Amarillo Resident.
Who do you align with more? If Trotsky, then parties like ISO and SPUSA is your choice. If with Lenin and Mao, then you're best to join with PSL and WWP. If you favor Lenin Mao and Stalin, then it's the FRSO(Fight back!) and FIST.
FIST is the youth branch of WWP.
"It is not incumbent upon you to complete the work, but neither are you at liberty to desist from it" - Pirkei Avot
The longer a drought lasts the more likely it is to continue.
The PSL (and WWP for that matter) is not Maoist and we don't see Mao as a major ideological figure.
I wouldn't say the Socialist Party rejects revolution, though there isn't a clear revolutionary socialist orientation either. It's gotten to the point where even what I would consider the right wing in the SP-USA uses the term "revolution," but only in certain circumstances and qualified by other terms.
The SLP is certainly an interesting organisation, but it seemed to have problems with political rigidity ever since the mid-20th century. That said, if DeLeonist politics do end up appealing, either the IWW, Workers International Industrial Union, or possibly the SP-USA as well, might be good organisational fits. The SP has at least a couple former SLPers in its ranks who are still basically DeLeonists.
"If communism means anything at all, it means the radical eruption of democracy. Bursting its present narrow political confines, where it is allowed to hold truncated and partly illusory sway, democracy is to engulf all spheres of social life."
~Moshe Machover, "Collective Decision-Making and Supervision in a Communist Society"
" I swear the neighbours must have heard the facepalm I just made."
~Majakovskij
I don't know why someone would try to label the PSL as ideologically affiliated with Mao. We're Marxist-Leninists with a strong historical background that is grounded in anti-imperialism. We uphold Mao as a revolutionary leader, but many of his actions and theoretical contributions were absolutely terrible.
If you want to look into a party that Glenn Beck called "the enemy within" and the racist John Birch Society called "the most active communist party today", look into the Party for Socialism and Liberation. www.PSLweb.org
The basic ideas of Marxism, upon which alone a revolutionary party can be constructed, are continuous in their application and have been for a hundred years. The ideas of Marxism, which create revolutionary parties, are stronger than the parties they create, and never fail to survive their downfall. They never fail to find representatives in the old organizations to lead the work of reconstruction. These are the continuators of the tradition, the defenders of the orthodox doctrine. The task of the uncorrupted revolutionists, obliged by circumstances to start the work of organizational reconstruction, has never been to proclaim a new revelation – there has been no lack of such Messiahs, and they have all been lost in the shuffle – but to reinstate the old program and bring it up to date.
- James P. Cannon, 'The Degeneration of the Communist Party'
Thanks for all the responses everyone. Honestly I didn't know there were so many Left parties in the U.S. I'll look into some of the others you mentioned. I had no clue the CP-USA supported the Democratic Party, that may seriously change my views as in my mind the Democrats have became just another wing of the Corporate Party.
As for who I identify with the most, honestly I'm not sure as I'm still doing research. I have learned a few things though. I do not agree with Stalin or Mao. I admire Trotsky and really learned a lot from the Revolution Betrayed and I am still doing research on Lenin.
The Us Socialist Worker's Party (which should not be confused with the British organization of the same name) is still active but it no longer regards itself as Trotskyist.They do not seem to be as active as they could be, many of their cadre are elderly or seem to be middle aged academics and they seem to be somewhat fossilized.They are active in anti-war work, etc.The SWP still jealously guards the copyright on most of the Trotskyist classics so you can only buy books by James Cannon, Farrell Dobbs, etc. though them.
Other Trotskyist organizations view them as a "traveling bookstore" they usually sell their stuff at demos.
Their history is fascinating and important. Most of the "57 varieties" of USTrotskyism split off from them at some time or another.
http://www.themilitant.com/index.shtml
To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never, to forget
Arundhati Roy
Lenina Rosenweg is a glorious beacon of light
If you are interested in Trotskyism, this organization follows the original version
http://www.socialistalternative.org/
To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never, to forget
Arundhati Roy
Lenina Rosenweg is a glorious beacon of light
I would recommend checking out the works of Sam Marcy. He is one of the theoretical foundations of the PSL. In his writings, he upholds Trotsky's theory of permanent revolution and his analysis of the Soviet Union.
Mao was a great revolutionary leader, but his theoretical analysis (calling the Soviet Union capitalist, etc) was just plain wrong. It is necessary to understand that many of the workers states at that time were deformed, but they still required and require our defense from imperialism and counterrevolution.
The basic ideas of Marxism, upon which alone a revolutionary party can be constructed, are continuous in their application and have been for a hundred years. The ideas of Marxism, which create revolutionary parties, are stronger than the parties they create, and never fail to survive their downfall. They never fail to find representatives in the old organizations to lead the work of reconstruction. These are the continuators of the tradition, the defenders of the orthodox doctrine. The task of the uncorrupted revolutionists, obliged by circumstances to start the work of organizational reconstruction, has never been to proclaim a new revelation – there has been no lack of such Messiahs, and they have all been lost in the shuffle – but to reinstate the old program and bring it up to date.
- James P. Cannon, 'The Degeneration of the Communist Party'
When the Socialist Workers Party abandoned Trotskyism in the early 1980s, it purged many of its members. Some of them formed a new organization that more or less continued its old politics, Socialist Action. SA is now one of the more dynamic Trotskyist parties - we're playing a significant role in the antiwar movement, and we've recruited a new layer of youth. There are links in my signature.
Thanks. I am checking out your links now. I think it might be a good fit for me. because as I said I am strongly opposed to the polices of Stalin and Mao, and SA is as well it seems.
Where does SA have branches? I've never seen them at protests around here or in bigger cities.
The basic ideas of Marxism, upon which alone a revolutionary party can be constructed, are continuous in their application and have been for a hundred years. The ideas of Marxism, which create revolutionary parties, are stronger than the parties they create, and never fail to survive their downfall. They never fail to find representatives in the old organizations to lead the work of reconstruction. These are the continuators of the tradition, the defenders of the orthodox doctrine. The task of the uncorrupted revolutionists, obliged by circumstances to start the work of organizational reconstruction, has never been to proclaim a new revelation – there has been no lack of such Messiahs, and they have all been lost in the shuffle – but to reinstate the old program and bring it up to date.
- James P. Cannon, 'The Degeneration of the Communist Party'
The American Party of Labor if you're into anti-revisionism:
http://americanpartyoflabor.org/
What periods are you reading about? These parties changed tremendously during the course of the 20th Century.
Which platforms and for what years? Their platforms, especially that of the CP, changed a hell of a lot.
The differences varied as the parties changed.
This is absolutely incorrect. You are probably speaking of the Socialist Workers Party, which is different from the Socialist Party. The Socialist Party never supported Trotsky. But the Communist Party may be said to be Stalinist until comparatively recently.
RED DAVE
You don't have to be a Maoist organization to favor Mao. Most of the members I've met of the PSL are in favor of Mao. Do you deny this?
I know this very well, but most of FIST that I've met has a more open stance towards Stalin than that of the WWP as I've noticed. Just stating what I've personally noticed as someone who's close to many members of the PSL, WWP, and FIST.
