TROTSKYISM TODAY - An Evaluation of a Series. by Harry Turner Vanguar !e"sletter# Vol $ !

o % Se&te'ber ()*+ Intro u,tion

"What Is Spartacist", the six-part series by Tim Wohlforth, which appeared in the Workers Leagues s "!ulletin" between #une $$ and %ugust &', &()', purports to be a *arxist examination, not only of the Spartacist League but also, of its "graduates"+ Included among the latter is one, ,arry Turner, an editor of -%./0%12 .3WSL3TT31+ We can agree with 4omrade Wohlforth that the *arxist method re5uires that phenomena be apprehended in its de6elopment to be ade5uately understood+ !ut this means that all other interacting phenomena must be afforded a similar treatment, and abo6e all, that a genuinely conscientious appraisal be undertaken+ 7uite ob6iously, the scientific detachment of an obser6er from Siri us can hardly be expected in social phenomena from participants, let alone partisans+ ,owe6er, the great *arxists ha6e set their followers an example in this respect as in others, in combining the most passionate de6otion to the cause of the working class with the most scrupulous treatment of the factual materials with which they dealt+ We intend to follow them in this respect as well in e6aluating the "What Is Spartacist" series, in examining the record of indi6iduals and groups who came to the fore as oppositional elements in the rapidly degenerating Socialist Workers 8arty and in their subse5uent e6olution+ Wohlforth attempts to pro6e his central thesis in this series, that the disintegration products of the SW8--all with the exception of Wohlforth and his tendency 9re:ected proletarian internationalism, and thereby, became enemies of the Leninist 6anguard party, as a result of their pragmatic adaptation to surface phenomena+ Wohlforth, it seems, was spared this fate, because of his mastery of *arxist "*3T,;2"< %s e6idence, Wohlforth 5uotes extensi6ely from materials made a6ailable by the Spartacist League, his own 6oluminous correspondence with /erry ,ealy, the national secretary of the Socialist Labour League and secretary of the International 4ommittee of the =ourth International, the documents of the SLL and I4, and also from letters sent to /erry ,ealy by this writer+ ;ur series will also attempt to pro6e a thesis, namely, that the >graduates" of the S-., including Wohlforth, and e6en""before "graduation", from &(?$ on, in one degree or another, operated in a manner harmful to the construction of a Leninist 6anguard party in this country, and that the current practices of both the WL and SL in particular, act as obstacles to its construction+ We will also ha6e occasion to refer to documents and to produce extracts of our correspondence to support our thesis 9 including those parts of a letter to /erry ,ealy which Wohlforth carefully o6erlooked+ %s *arxists, we understand that the ideological superstructure 9not immediately, not directly, but in the final analysis 9is dependent on the economic base, and that serious political struggles, e6en within a small organi@ation, reflect this base and the resultant mo6ement of social classes+ We also understand with *arx that the "character of the people who first head the mo6ement" play an important role in accelerating or delaying de6elopments+ %s *arxists, we recogni@e that the negati6e practices of the SW8 "graduates" are not simply the "e6il" work of "e6il" men+ 0nderlying all the errors of re6olutionists and would-be-re6olutionists, including those resulting from the erratic beha6ior and sub:ecti6ism of indi6idual leaders, we see the action of economic-political law+ The defeats of the 3uropean and world working class in the post World War II period by capitalism aided by Stalinism, produced the re6isionist theories of a *ichel 8ablo and the immediate or subse5uent capitulation to his conceptions by a large part of the world Trotskyist mo6ement+ %bandoning attempts to build an international working class 6anguard party, they sought for short-cuts to socialism in adaptations to one or another 6ariety of Stalinism and "Third World" ism+

The harmful practices of those "graduates" who "oppose" 8abloism must also be understood in the context of an as-yet politically backward working class, in the absence of a real working class mo6ement which they would be bound to respect, and in their inability to produce a coherent and consistent strategy and tactics to deal with the sharpening crisis of world capitalism, to the extent that they e6en recogni@e its existence+ Wohlforth has admitted in this series that the WL made errors in the past, e+g+, that it had held "a confused position on the 5uestion of !lack .ationalism", which has since been corrected, so that it now "ruthlessly fights each and e6ery manifestation of black nationalism "+ ,owe6er, Wohlforth not only fails to explore the roots of this error, in this or any other series, to our knowledge, he also delicately refrains from elaborating further on the other "mistakes" to which he admits+ Lenin in Left Wing Communism states thatA "a political party s attitude toward its own mistakes is one of the most important and surest ways of :udging how earnest the party is, and how it fulfils in practice its obligations toward its class and the working people+ =rankly acknowledging a mistake, ascertaining the reasons for it, analy@ing the conditions that ha6e let up to it, and thrashing out the means of its rectification, that is the hallmark of a serious party+++" 0sing Lenin s criterion, we intend to demonstrate that neither the WL nor the SL can be considered "serious", in Lenin s meaning of the term+ The infre5uent "Spartacist", in its %ugust-September issue, has printed a shrill reply to the "What is Spartacist" series, entitled "The Wohlforth LeagueA 4ounterfeit Trotskyists"+ %dopting the maxim that the best defense is a good offense, the SL has let loose a welter of accusations and grie6ances against Wohlforth and the WL+ It is unable, howe6er to undertake an ob:ecti6e examination of the WL s failings because, despite its pretentions that it is the embodiment of "authentic Trotskyism", it is not a serious organi@ation in any sense of that word+ Its hastily written lawyer s brief is concerned to co6er o6er its own sins of commission and omission+ Its continued existence as an organi@ation can be attributed, not to its own laggard efforts but rather, to the blunders which the WL has made and continues to make 9 as we intend to demonstrate+ T/e 0eft O&&osition in t/e S-. The 4uban re6olution, which brought to power a new !onapartist formation headed by =idel 4astro, which we understand as ha6ing resulted in a deformed workers state, a state not 5ualitati6ely differing from the So6iet, 3astern 3uropean or 4hinese 6arieties, was seen by the SW8 leadership as the distilled essence of a proletarian re6olution 9consummated without the proletarian party, without the acti6e participation not to speak of leadership of the proletariat, and without the organs of working class rule, the So6iets 9that it was at least the e5ual of, if it did not surpass, the ;ctober 1e6olution led by the !olshe6ik party+ In his first installment, Wohlforth correctly indicates 9and in fact, the series makes a number of 6alid points and presents some useful information, which we intend to credit in due course 9that the left minority faction in the SW8 initially arose in opposition to the opportunist direction by the party ma:ority on 4uba+ ,e then refers to the documentary e6idence to show that the I4 leadership had understood earlier and had helped the minority in the SW8 to understand that the opportunist adaptation to the new 4uban bureaucracy by the SW8 ma:ority was but an expression of its fundamental theoretical and political degeneration, was "an expression of a whole international perspecti6e and method known as 8abloism"+ Wohlforth attacks the 1obertson concept&on, which appeared as late as #anuary &(?B, in an introduction to a reprint of the minority document of &(?$ "In 2efence of a 1e6olutionary 8erspecti6e" that the SW8 leadership first took an opportunist position on 4uba, and then generali@ed their opportunism into an opportunist international perspecti6e+ This writer only became in6ol6ed in the struggle for re6olutionary politics in the SW8 after the split of the original minority into the "1e6olutionary Tendency" of 1obertson and the "1eorgani@ed *inority Tendency" of Woh&forth+ ,owe6er, there seems to be no reason for not crediting Wohlforth s 6ersion of the se5uence of de6elopment which produced the SW8 minority and its basic agreement with the I4+ We must take issue, howe6er, with Wohlforth s underlying simplistic psychological assumption, that the erroneous 6iews of 1obertson in this respect are significant as an expression of a national de6iation which "explains" his and "his friends" subse5uent " re:ection of internationalism"+ %nd in fact, despite his use of the

term "interlocking" to describe the 5uestions of 8abloism and 4uba, Wohlforth s presentation betrays his own inability to understand that the SW8 s adaptation to the 4astro !onapartist formation was not only an "expression" of its 8abloist "perspecti6e and method", but that 4uba represented that added factor which transformed 5uantity to 5uality, which caused an already weakened and disoriented organism to succumb to 8abloism+ 2espite Wohlforth s stress on *arxist >*3T,;2", as the fundamental attribute which distinguishes the WL from the SL and other pragmatists, in reality, he and 1obertson ha6e in common a basic incapacity for dialectical thought, and an eclecticism 9in some cases clearly expressed, in others, cle6erly masked as "authentic *arxism", and to adaptations which betray the fact that neither are as far from the 8abloism which they condemn as they would like others to belie6e+

TROTSKYISM TODAY .art $# by Harry Turner Vanguar !e"sletter Vol $ !o ) O,tober ()*+ S&lit in t/e S-. 0eft Ten en,y
Is it worthwhile "bothering" about "ancient" factional and organi@ational "s5uabbles"within the SW8 and other ostensibly re6olutionary organi@ationsC We belie6e that an examination of the interacting ob:ecti6e and sub:ecti6e factors can pro6ide *arxists with useful lessons in the struggle for the Leninist and Trotskyist 6anguard party 9and not least, in illuminating personalities who present themsel6es today as leaders+ Illusions in self-appointed, incompetent and opportunist leaders and their policies, can pro6e an insuperable barrier for the working class, in spite of the most promising re6olutionary opportunities+ ;ur series, therefore, performs a needed political hygienic function+ Those who try to conceal past "mistakes", to distort the truth to promote their "re6olutionary" organi@ations, are in reality, expressing an elitist attitude which can only negate real socialist consciousness in the working class+ =rom this standpoint, a re6olutionary socialist is bound to treat the 6iews of opponents with complete scrupulosity+ It is impermissible to abstract phrases from context to gi6e them a meaning contrary to their author s intention, or to deliberately omit passages from 5uotations which ha6e an important bearing on the matter in 5uestion+ 8art B of Wohlforth s series, "What Is Spartacist", 5uotes at length from the letter written to /erry ,ealy by this writer on #an+ &', &(?(+ The same letter was also referred to by #ames 1obertson in an exchange -%./0%12 .3WSL3TT31 printed in its =ebruary &()' issue+ %s we demonstrated then, 1obertson 5uoted a sentence " out of ,onte1t in an attempt at identifying the WL s 6iews on the .egro 5uestion as our own"+ !ut Wohlforth also 6iolated the integrity of the letter by gi6ing his readers no inkling that between the paragraphs 5uoted, other paragraphs, perhaps not to his liking were also present+ Thus, while 5uoting our affirmation that a "re-assessment +++ re5uires+++ a close look at two turning points, the original split Din the SW8E+++ in &(?$, and the exclusion of 1obertson at the London 4onference of the I4 in &(??+++", he omits any indication of an inter6ening paragraph in which we informed ,ealy of our ob:ection "to certain of the tactics used by the Wohlforth group against the 1obertson group", while both were still in the SW8+ %gain after citing our finding that 1obertson bore the ma:or responsibility for the "original split+++ in &(?$", and his "exclusion+++in &(??", no reference is made to a short paragraph which informed ,ealy of our ob:ection to "the forms chosen to disclose 1obertson s essence" in &(?$ and &(??+ The tone of the letter also reflected the circumstances in which it was written+ %t the time, we were still exchanging political 6iews with the leaders and members of the WL, in attempting to con6ince them of the 6alidity of our positions, and in particular, that a Leninist party could not be built in the 0S through passi6e adaptation to white chau6inism+ We worded our letter to ,ealy diplomatically, but also registered our organi@ational and political agreements and disagreements with the WL and SLL+

%s our examination of intra-tendency and later struggles will show, petty-bourgeois egoism, malice and hea6yhandedness can play a disastrous role in politics, in this instance on the 6ital 5uestion of the construction of a Leninist 6anguard party in the 0S, in the cornerstone of world imperialism+ In our lire-assessment" of the split in the left tendency, we stated that 1obertson s differences with the I4 were not of a character which re5uired him to break with it+ ;ne could infer from the eagerness of the Spartacist League to make the records which bear on the split, a6ailable in >*arxist" bulletins, that 1obertson is moti6ated by a masochistic need, if it were also not e6ident that he is either unaware of or belie6es that his protestations mask the clear e6idence that his entire course led to a break with the I4+ %ll the bleating by 1obertson and his friends about 6iolations of tendency democracy, cannot conceal the fact, except to political unsophisticates 9a fact which emerges from the correspondence and documents which the SL itself circulates 9that they were unwilling to subordinate their o6ersi@ed egos to the needs of the international mo6ement+ i !oth Wohlforth, despite an occasional extra6agance, and /erry ,ealy, on the contrary, emerge as the principled parties, who whate6er personal factors were in6ol6ed were concerned to conduct a serious struggle for re6olutionary politics within the SW8 as a 6ital &art of the world Trotskyist mo6ement+ The internal perspecti6es document by 1obertson and Ireland, "The 4entrism of the SW8 and the Tasks of the *inority" which precipitated the break with the I4, has not a word to say about the relationship and responsibility of the tendency to an internationally organi@ed struggle+ Its focus is myopic and narrow+ Its tactics are limited to the immediate tasks of the tendency within a national framework+ .ot an inkling exists that the tendency in the 0S, comprising a few do@en members at best, was directly connected to &arties, to the SLL in 3ngland and to the then-named ;rganisation 4ommuniste Internationaliste F;4IG, which represented thousands of Trotskyists in their own sections, and who in additionH had the responsibility for organi@ing a struggle in the other national sections of the world mo6ement+ Instead of attacking the 1obertson Ireland document for its narrow parochialism howe6er, Wohlforth s answer was restricted to the same national framework+ ,e instead attempted to find a class basis for the sharpening differences through a specious argument about the working class nature nature of the SW8 cadre, which had by then become badly attenuated+ The class basis did exist, but Wohlforth did not present it at that time+ 1obertson ga6e expression to the moods of petty-bourgeois impatience and instability, of personal rancor and pi5ue in the face of the unprincipled organi@ational methods of the ma:ority+ ,e was able to win most of the tendency to his side in the struggle because of its poor composition, its high proportion of student-intellectuals+ 0nfortunately, the tactics pursued by Wohlforth and ,ealy, not only failed to expose 1obertson s "essence" but instead played into his hands+ 7uantity had already been transformed into 5uality, reluctant, though Wohlforth and the I4 leadership were to recogni@e that fact+ The SW8 leadership, which had shown unmistakable signs of the 8abloite infection earlier, despite its continued recitation of "orthodox" Trotskyist formuli, had succumbed to the disease with the 4uban re6olution+ Wohlforth and ,ealy only strengthened 1obertson within the tendency by not recogni@ing the fact that the leadership "as "centrist", that its direction was increasingly opportunist, by trying to preser6e illusions that a section of the leadership, "the 4enter", might still be won for re6olutionary politics, when e6ery new de6elopment pro6ed the opposite+ This unclarity, the reluctance to "make premature characterisations of the 4enter", which was :ustified on both tactical and political grounds, also resulted in an ambi6alent attitude toward the leadership by Wohlforth, which 1obertson could attack with :ustification as "conciliatory"+ ,owe6er, the struggle within the SW8 and on the international plane re5uired, along with a clear understanding of the nature of the leadership, a serious struggle to win the membership+ It was necessary to combat the growing intransigence of 1obertson and his coterie, which their tactics in the SW8 and its youth organi@ation reflected, in posing the tendency against the organi@ation, instead of as an alternati6e leadership for it+ The increasingly unrestrained factionalism which could and did result in actions which the SW8 ma:ority might ha6e utili@ed against the national and international tendency, was in fact a "split perspecti6e" e6en if those who held it were only "partially aware of, or not aware at all", as Wohlforth stated+ FToward the Working 4lass, &'$-?$G The contro6ersial conditions in the statement prepared by the I4, >written by comrade ,ealy himself, acting in consultation with other comrades of the !ritish SLL and also of the =rench &4 group", were the followingA that

the tendency center its fire on the >right wing" in the SW8 while making no concessions to >the center+++", that it effect a united front where possible with the center elements against the right +++ recognise the SW8 as the main instrument for reali@ation of socialism in the 0nited States +++" and work as >loyal party members+++" , as "people who are responsible for their party+++", that is not make >premature characterisations of the leadership of the SW8 accept of those groups such as Weiss and Swabeck+++", that the ma:ority "not be described as a finished centrist tendency in the same way as the 8abloites+++", and that tendency members must "accept these conditions" to remain "members of the tendency"+ True, the I4 statement contained political formulations with which 1obertson could not agree+ ,owe6er, he was not asked to agree, but to a,,e&t the conditions+ %s 1obertson well knows, the members of the party of Lenin, and Trotsky were ne6er re5uired to agree with all pro6isions, but were re5uired to a,,e&t the program and carry it out+ 1obertson and his friends reacted as petty-bourgeois nationalists+ Their complaint, in essence, was that "outsiders" were dictating to the "insiders", who alone had the right to decide on matters which concerned their >turf"+ Would acceptance of the I4 s conditions ha6e ruined the struggle within the SW8 for the international re6olutionary party, let alone, ha6e constituted a betrayal of principleC .either the one or the other+ They contained illusions about the nature of the "4enter"+ Some formulations were erroneous+ !ut acceptance only meant delaying the ine6itable confrontation between tendency and party organi@ation+ -aluable time might ha6e been gained to enable the tendency to win SW8 members for re6olutionary policies+ ,ad 1obertson been concerned with ad6ancing the principled struggle instead of his ego, he would ha6e accepted the conditions, con6inced his co-thinkers to do the same, and as a minority within the international tendency fought for better policies+ Instead, and as our letter to ,ealy pointed outH "!y splitting with the I4, he did, in fact, as you ha6e stated, strengthen the SW8 re6isionists, who were able to out-maneu6er a disunited left opposition, and close off the minds of many of those in the SW8, who might ha6e been reached by us+ In addition, many wa6erers, who might ha6e been held by a united left opposition, became confused and demorali@ed, and ga6e up the struggle entirely+" ++ I !ut what of the "forms" which ,ealy choseC !y attempting to resol6e the political 5uestion in an organi@ational manner, in the form of a statement which the tendency had not helped prepare, and which could not be altered, ,ealy presented 1obertson with an ideal weapon, which he used for his own organi@ational purposes, and to obscure the real nature of the disagreement+ 0nfortunately, we will often see utili@ation of narrow organi@ational approaches to sol6e political tasks+ Se6eral months after the split in the tendency, Wohlforth s illusions about the SW8 leadership were to be expressed in an anti-1obertson organi@ational maneu6er which ser6ed only to discredit Wohlforth+

TROTSKYISM TODAY .art 2 - by Harry Turner 3ro' Vanguar !e"sletter# Vol $ !o (+ !ove'ber ()*+ T/e 4irt/ of S&arta,ist an t/e -or5ers 0eague
;rgani@ations can appear to be 6ery re6olutionary when :udged by their words, by their, perhaps, fre5uent bows to *arxist "orthodoxy" to the politically nai6e+ It is only o6er time and under test, throughout an entire range of struggles, that the essential political characteristics of organi@ations and their leaderships become clearly delineated+ ;ur post mortem on the recent series by the Workers League s FWLG Tim Wohlforth, "What Is Spartacist", has as its purpose the drawing up of a balance sheet on two left "alternati6es" to the Socialist Workers 8arty, the Spartacist and WL 9as well as other formations in passing 9to support our contention that their leaders, both 1obertson and Wohlforth, ha6e acted as obstacles to the construction of a re6olutionary *arxist, i+e+, a Leninist and Trotskyist working class 6anguard party+

In our second installment in ;ctober, we stated that the &(?$ split in the Socialist Workers 8arty FSW8G left tendency had been caused by the refusal of "1obertson and his friends +++ to subordinate their o6ersi@ed egos to the needs of the International mo6ement"+ We also obser6ed that WohlforthJs >ambi6alent attitude towards the DSW8E leadership" was to be >expressed in an anti-1obertson manoeu6re which ser6ed only to discredit Wohlforth"+ %s was its custom, the SW8 had set a two month discussion period in preparation for the crucial con6ention held during #uly &(?K, which would mark its final rupture with >orthodox" Trotskyism" by its political reunification with the 8abloist International Secretariat, thereafter known as the 0nited Secretariat+ The intense struggle o6er program and leadership was reflected in the sheer 6olume of internal discussion bulletins which were published+ 36ery tendency and assorted independent indi6iduals , not only on the impending re-unification with the 8abloists, but also on the specific political issues to which political reunification was connected, e+g+ the >1ussian" 5uestion which now also included 4hina, 3astern 3urope, 4uba, the >%merican" 5uestion, which the ma:ority was able to consider apart from the >.egro" 5uestion in metaphysical fashion+ The >1eorganised *inority Tendency F1*TG under WohlforthJs leadership was, of course, legitimately concerned to present its and the International 4ommitteeJs FI4G political 6iews+ It was also re5uired to make clear the basis for its separation from the other >anti-8abloist" tendency, the >1e6olutionary Tendency", under the leadership of 1obertson+ While the separate existence of the two groups had produced di6ergent positions on a number of important 5uestions, neither had become sufficiently differentiated in the eyes of the rank and file of the party+ *oreo6er the ma:ority utili@ed the split to attack both groups for unprincipled factionalism+ !ut WohlforthJs illusions in the >center", his reluctance to make a >premature characterisation" of the 2obsLerry leadership as a >finished centrist tendency" led him into taking a serious political mis-step, in attempting to carry through this responsibility+ #ust prior to the closing date for submission of documents, Wohlforth produced his explanation for the left minority split, entitled >8arty and 4lass"+ 1epeating all the rationali@ations for continuing to 6iew the SW8 as still >re6olutionary", he re-affirmed the loyalty of his tendency to it, its concern to a6oid all factional confrontations in the interest of a thorough political discussion of outstanding issues, and then proceeded to indict the 1obertson tendency for ha6ing >written off the party as a whole", for ha6ing >displayed no serious interest in the work of our party", for seeking >to retreat into the comfortable Mstudy circleJ+++", and for rapidly e6ol6ing >at that time+++in the direction of a split from the party"+ %s e6idence for the 6alidity of this statement, he appended two of his internal tendency documents and the letter of a supporter, %lbert 8hilips+ !ut these appendices not only referred to the specific internal tendency documents which had been written by 1obertsonIreland and ,arper, but interpreted their contents in a manner which could not fail to pro6ide the SW8 ma:ority, should it desire it, with the grounds for organi@ation proceedings against them, e+g+, >% tendency which re:ects party discipline Fe6en if only partiallyG and party building, which seeks to sneak people into the party, which functions in part as an independent entity, which carries on an organi@ation faction war within the party, which, in 6iolation of party statutes includes non-party members, which is so deeply alienated and isolated from the party ranks that it has in fact already split in ,ontent if not yet in form 9such a tendency is going down a road which must lead to a split from the party+" FToward the Working 4lassG+ This writer, ha6ing considered the positions of both tendencies for some months, had by then decided to :oin forces with 1obertson after achie6ing political agreement with him on 4uba as a deformed workersJ state, and on organi@ational approaches towards 8rogressi6e Labor, which had broken from the 4ommunist 8arty to its left+ %n important factor in this writerJs decision was his conclusion that 1obertsonJs open hostility towards the leadership was more forthright and logical than the ambiguous-seeming position of Wohlforth+ 1obertson had only managed to learn about the Wohlforth document as it was being produced+ In a last minute attempt to pre6ent its publication, he called upon this writer to appeal to Wohlforth to withdraw it+ Wohlforth, howe6er, refused on the ground that it was no longer possible, that the document was already known to the leadership+ ,e also refused to entertain the possibility that his document would result in disciplinary proceedings against the 1obertson tendency, and insisted that the SW8 leadership had ne6er expelled anyone for thoughts, only for specific actions+

1obertson has accused Wohlforth of ha6ing MfinkedJ on the 1T in an effort at ha6ing its leadership expelled+ The latter was, of course, concerned to destroy the former politically, hoped to discredit his tendency in the eyes of the SW8 membership, and to establish his own as a >loyal" opposition+ While personal malice was, perhaps, in6ol6ed, it is possible to understand WohlforthJs action as based on the mistaken belief that the still >re6olutionary" SW8 would not resort to organi@ational measures solely on the strength of his documents+ The >8arty and 4lass" document also made clear that the 1*T would ha6e sought >political collaboration between the tendencies", would not ha6e sought to discredit 1obertson and his followers, if his tendency has supported its resolution on the >%merican" 5uestion for a turn to the working class, instead of amending the ma:ority document >to continue Mpropaganda workJ"+ %s we ha6e shown, Wohlforth and the I4 had retained illusions that the SW8 was still the >main instrument for the reali@ation of socialism" in the 0S+ This underestimation of the ra6ages of the 8abloite infection also expressed itself in the document, >The 2ecline of %merican Imperialism and the Tasks of the SW8", which the 1*T had presented two months prior to its >8arty and 4lass" document+ Its simplistic theme was that, like %ntaeus and mother 3arth, the SW8 could be re6itali@ed, would regain its re6olutionary elan, by restoring its contact with the working class+ !ut Wohlforth had miscalculated+ The 1*T did not en:oy a rush of new membership support from the explosion of his >bombshell"+ 1obertson has been able to submit the refutation of the 1T, >2iscipline and Truth", in time for its publication as an internal discussion document, in which WohlforthJs statements were branded as >lies" concocted to promote the expulsing of the 1T+ %ppropriate 5uotations from correspondence and from the 1obertson-Ireland and ,arper documents were used to >refute" WohlforthJs interpretations, and to put a better color on some of the more awkward phrases to which he hade referred+ The last business of the 4on6ention, the election of the .ational 4ommittee by the delegates, saw Wohlforth depri6ed of his seat because of his >disloyal" association with ,ealyJs SLL+ 8rior to the 4on6ention, the 8olitical 4ommittee of the SW8 had mo6ed against the 1T leadership by demanding the 1obertson-Ireland and ,arper documents in 5uestion+ %fter the 4on6ention it con6ened a 4ontrol 4ommission to in6estigate the 1T leadership, suspended, and t hen in #anuary &(?N, expelled 1obertson, Ireland, ,arper, *age and White from the SW8+ Shortly thereafter, the first issue of >Spartacist" was published+ Its appearance precipitated charges against and the expulsion of the remaining members of the 1T, including this writer, from all local organi@ations of the SW8 in which the ma:ority exercised control+ The high-handed procedures of the SW8 ma:ority against the 1T9suspensions and expulsions for >bad" thoughts, for the expression of opinion within a tendency, without proof of o6ert 6iolations of party discipline, and, in the cases of /eoffrey White and Shane *age, without e6en the e6idence of >disloyal" thoughts 9had brought the 1T a groundswell of sympathy from many members+ 8rotests began to pour in from indi6iduals and e6en entire local organi@ations of the SW8+ ;ther tendencies, including the 1*T, also :oined the chorus of opposition+ *any of the protesters were without sympathy for the political positions of the 1T+ Some e6en had essential political agreement with the ma:ority, and had simply become disturbed o6er the abrogation of the rights of the 1T+ Some, at odds with the ma:ority on one or other 5uestion, feared the precedent that was being established+ !ut others, seeing the hea6y bureaucratic hand of the leadership in action, also began to gi6e sympathetic ear to the political 6iews of the 1T+ Wohlforth and the 1*T were, howe6er, isolated, distrusted and scorned by all sides+ Sympathi@ers with the ma:ority did not accept WohlforthJs >charges" against 1obertson as a manifestation of >loyalty", and still considered him to be the creature of /erry ,ealy+ The newly aroused members on the other hand, ga6e credence to 1obertsonJs 6ilifications that Wohlforth had acted as a >fink", had deliberately >framed up" the 1T for his own *achia6ellian purposes+ In addition, in focussing attention on the organi@ational side of politics, in attempting to destroy the 1T with sensational appendices, Wohlforth ine6itably detracted from what he had declared to be the central 5uestion of >8arty and 4lass", the program which the 1*T had issued on the >%merican" 5uestion, although, perhaps, somewhat o6erambitious for a small party, was a fundamentally correct orientation for a serious re6olutionary mo6ement+ It mistook the tempo of economic de6elopment and looked for a >crisis of growing stagnation" at a time when capitalism was achie6ing a new >prosperity"+ It is now dated in its emphasis on the Southern ci6il

rights mo6ement+ ,owe6er, it did direct itself to the growing domestic and international contradictions of capitalism, which ha6e, since &(?)-?O, shaken world capitalism+ %t the time, and to many SW8 members, including this writer, the ma:ority criticism with which 1obertson concurred, that the 1*T was proposing a >2on 7uixote" perspecti6e which in6ited the SW8 to >charge simultaneously into all sides of the mass mo6ement", seemed 6alid+ 1obertsonJs more modest proposals for directing the SW8Js >general propaganda offensi6e" along >class lines" were closer to the ma:ority document, >8reparing for the .ext Wa6e of 1adicali@ation in the 0S"+ !ut both the 1T and the SW8 ma:ority 6iewed the economic >reality" in empirical fashion+ The former continued to respond to it in the propagandist style which it had learned in the period of the SW8Js deterioration+ The latter abandoned e6en these feeble approaches to the working class for the new opportunities which saw it tail-ending !lack nationalism and 4uban !onapartism+ -iewed today, the 1*T proposals that the SW8 make work in the trade unions, among the workers who were beginning to mo6e into struggle, not only against their employers, but also against the trade union bureaucrats, and to win !lack and Spanish speaking workers on this basis, seems eminently reasonable+ The opposition of two themes 9between the acti6ity of a re6olutionary *arxist organi@ation directed toward the working class, which Wohlforth had emphasi@ed in his document on the "%merican" 5uestion, and the "propagandist" orientation of 1obertson, directed toward "selected" arenas for "exemplary" purposes 9had been buried in a cloud of organi@ational manoeu6ring, but the struggle between the two concepts of organi@ation would be posed again and again, between the Workers League, formerly %4=I, and the SL, as well as within the latter organi@ation+ Ironically, the WL was to abandon its earlier appreciation of the !lack and other specially oppressed minorities as the key to the building of a working class base, for a passi6e adaptation to the chau6inist outlook of white workers, which it would co6er with the abstract and sterile slogan >=ight 1acism"+ With e5ual irony, the SL was to adopt the understanding that this writer had proposed in a "*emorandum on the .egro Struggle", that it focus its acti6ities on the construction of rank and file caucuses in the trade unions, on a program to unite the racially di6ided working class in the struggle against special oppression in its own immediate and fundamental interests 9but only as a ploy with which to attract Student radicals+ It was to abandon it in short order, and in the process, eliminate those who sought to implement it+ % few months after the expulsion of the 1T members, Wohlforth s 1*T, minus those of its supporters who saw the So6iet 0nion as "state capitalist", was suspended from SW8 membership for attempting to force a discussion of the 4eylonese situation+ The bulk of the Lanka Sama Sama:a 8arty FLSS8G, which had maintained close ties o6er an eighteen year period with leaders now in the 0nited Secretariat, had :oined the "popular front" go6ernment coalition headed by the bourgeois Sri Lanka =reedom 8arty of *rs+ !andaranaike+ 0pon its suspension, the 1*T immediately declared itself to be the "%merican 4ommittee for the =ourth International F%4=IG and began to publish the "!ulletin of International Soc&alism"+ %s in the case of the early %merican 4ommunist mo6ement, the "Trotskyist" "alternati6e" to the re6isionist betrayal of re6olutionary *arxism had issued forth as two separate organi@ations+ ,owe6er, history, as *arx has obser6ed, recurs, >the first time as tragedy, the second as farce"+ Fto be continuedG

TROTSKYISM TODAY 6.art IV7 - by Harry Turner Vol. 2 No. 11 December 1970 S&arta,ist an A.8.3.I. 9:nity9 !egotiations
Two organi@ations cannot occupy the same political space for long+ 3ither their political correspondence increases and finds its organi@ational expression in unity, or else their politics di6erge as ob:ecti6e circumstances act on and are acted upon by each organi@ation in accordance with its own nature+ In the case of the Spartacist group and the %merican 4ommittee for the =ourth International

F%4=IG, first one and then the other took place+ 0nity negotiations were followed by a final breech and a di6ergent de6elopment+ The Spartacist group s expulsion from the Socialist Workers 8arty FSW8G se6eral months prior to %4=I ga6e it a distinct ad6antage o6er the latter+ %s the only organisation to the left of the SW8, as the putati6e bearer of the re6olutionary banner of *arxism which the SW8 had abandoned , it began to attract new forces toward it, primarily from the student milieu together with sympathetic periphery of ex-members and sympathi@ers of the SW8+ It managed to recruit in this period se6eral members of the %merican Socialist ;rgani@ing 4ommittee F%S;4G, the left-wing faction of the Poung 8eopleJs Socialist League FP8SLG, the youth organi@ation of the Socialist 8arty-Social 2emocratic =ederation FS8-S2=G+ Shortly after the suspension of the members of the 1eorgani@ed *inority Tendency F1*TG from the SW8 and its emergence as %4=I in the summer of &(?N, the Spartacist group s #ames 1obertson proposed that, as both had political agreement on essential 5uestions, their two groups unite+ 8roceeding at a languid and desultory pace, initially through literary exchanges, and then through O meetings between their leading representati6es, unity negotiations had reached a dead end by ;ctober &(?B+ %n examination of "*arxist !ulletin .o+ K--8art l-", published by the Spartacist League FSLG, of the minutes of these sessions and its preface, should pro6e illuminating to an ob:ecti6e obser6er+ The SL, in attempting to use the minutes to :ustify its own beha6ior, only succeeds in pro6ing that both leaderships were more concerned with organi@ational manipulation and control of the fused organi@ation, should it e6er come into being, than with their responsibility for building a 6iable section of the Trotskyist mo6ement in the 0S+ %s though taking part in a 5uadrille, first Spartacist comes forth aggressi6ely as the wooer with %4=I in retreat+ Then the re6ersal, %4=I becomes the ardent swain with Spartacist in the role of reluctant partner+ %t intermission, the two parties are found in a mutually uneasy and distasteful embrace+ The steps of the dance are related only to the narrowest organi@ational aspect of politics+ The existing political differences which are raised, are not the real focus of the negotiations, but are only ad6anced as a defensi6e reflex, and largely to achie6e le6erage on the "important" 5uestion 9who will swallow whom+ %s a result of the initial successes of the Spartacist group, 1obertson was con6inced that his organi@ation, at that time, perhaps, four times as large as %4=I, could successfully digest the latter+ Wohlforth, fearful that %4=I might well be the eaten and not the eater, at first wants only an exhausti6e literary discussion on all outstanding political and organi@ational 5uestions+ ;nly later does he agree to meetings of the leaderships+ !ut he then proceeds to demand immediate organi@ational collaboration and fraterni@ation at all le6els before his organi@ation will decide whether or not unification is desirable+ 1obertson, fearing that Wohlforth and %4=I might lead some of his new flock astray, counters by insisting that Wohlforth first make a commitment that unity is "possible or principled"+ ,a6ing recei6ed it at the Bth session, he then demands that %4=I accept the onus for the split in &(?$, as the central 5uestion, without which, unity will not take place+ 1obertson has, e6idently decided by then that the kind of unity which he had in mind was not possible, that %4=I and its talent, and especially WohlforthJs literary ability would not be at the disposal of an organi@ation which he, 1obertson would dominate+ The character of the leaders of organi@ations, can play, as *arx has pointed out, an important role in accelerating or delaying de6elopments+ This sub:ecti6e factor, will and should ha6e a certain weight in negotiations between organi@ations+ !ut re6olutionary *arxists, scientific socialists, begin not from sub:ecti6e considerations, but from the ob:ecti6e tasks with which the mo6ement is faced, and to which the sub:ecti6e factors are, in the final analysis, subordinate+ =or serious *arxists, the 6ital considerations are the perspecti6e with which the organisation proposes to function, and the program that it elaborates, the strategy and tactics which it de6elops in relation to both the ob:ecti6e situation and the pre6ailing le6el of working class consciousness+ It was at this point that the International 4ommittee of the =ourth International FI4G inter6ened to remind both groups of the 6ital importance that the construction of a re6olutionary 6anguard party in the 0S would ha6e for the international re6olutionary struggle+ %s both Spartacist and %4=I had expressed agreement with its international perspecti6es and program, the I4 called upon both groups to work toward agreement on %merican perspecti6es as the basis for unity+

Shortly thereafter, at a meeting in *ontreal, the delegations from the Spartacist group and %4=I, at first independently and then con:ointly, met with /erry ,ealy, the national secretary of the Socialist Labour League FSLLG and secretary of the I4, and agreed to work for a consummation of the unity after the London 4onference of the I4 in %pril &(??, and to prepare an %merican perspecti6es document for presentation at the conference+ !ut not without a struggle+ 1obertson wanted a written guarantee that the I4 would not again "interfere" in the internal affairs of the %merican section, as in &(?$, and was ready to break off negotiations unless he recei6ed it+ /erry ,ealy, of course, understood that 1obertson, in the name of democratic centralism was demanding, in effect, a federati6e relationship with the international mo6ement, of the type that the SW8 had achie6ed in the post-war period, in which each national mo6ement conducted its own "business" without ha6ing to account for its acti6ities to the international 9in essence, a re6ersion to the national practices of the Second International+ ,ealy was, 5uite properly, opposed to any such understanding+ % national section of the international mo6ement must, of course, de6elop leadership with the capacity to determine correct strategy and tactics, not apart from the international mo6ement, but as an integral and essential part of it+ These sections bear the direct responsibility for constructing a working class 6anguard party which, as a result of its deep roots and intimate knowledge of the concrete conditions of struggle, can initiate and respond correctly to them+ ;b6iously, for an international mo6ement of this kind, there can be no 5uestion of gi6ing and taking "orders"+ %t the same time, the international party of the world proletariat must operate on the principle of democratic centralism+ It has, not only the right but the duty to inter6ene, to critici@e the work of the national sections, to point out opportunistic andQor sectarian errors in the work, and to demand that their politics be congruent with those of the international mo6ement+ The weakness of any of its parts is, of course, a weakness of the international as a whole+ The success of any of its sections strengthens all sections+ The re6olutionary break-through, the socialist re6olution, especially in one of the ad6anced countries, would shortly place the socialist re6olution on the agenda in all capitalist countries, and the political re6olution as well in the degenerate and deformed workersJ states+ 0nknown to ,ealy and %4=I, 1obertsonJs intransigence had di6ided the Spartacist delegation+ While all its delegates, at that time, accepted 1obertsonJs petty bourgeois nationalist position that ,ealyJs inter6ention in &(?$, 6iolated their national rights, two of them, /eoffrey White and this writer, had insisted that the unity of re6olutionary *arxists on the basis of the existing fundamental political agreement into a nucleus of a Leninist 6anguard party was a far more important 5uestion that formal guarantees of independence+ ,owe6er, this di6ision ne6er came to a head because ,ealy proposed a formulation with which all could agree, that, both groups based themsel6es on the >decisions of the first four congresses of the 4ommunist International", on the work of the >=ounding 4onference of the =ourth International", and on the I4 international perspecti6es documentH and that, on this basis, >tactical disagreements on work" in the 0S >would not be an obstacle to unity"+ The I4 reser6ed the >right to make its political position+++known to the delegates at the 0nification 4onference+++" >2iscussion on all past differences" was to be suspended until after unity had been consummated, when it would be continued in literary form+ The owl of *iner6a flies at dusk+ In retrospect, it was, ob6iously, a mistake not to ha6e fought out the 5uestion of &(?$ at *ontreal, together with the issue of a working class orientation for the united organi@ation as against the 1obertson propagandist approach+ While 1obertson would, probably, ha6e con6inced the ma:ority of his delegation to break off negotiations, a fissure would, in all likelihood, ha6e been opened in the ranks+ ,is real petty bourgeois nature would ha6e been re6ealed to, at least, a section of his membership, and the basis would ha6e been prepared for a healthier unity with some of the Spartacist group later on+ It was only much later, after 1obertson had called for a halt to the turn toward the trade unions and toward the construction of a network of rank and file caucuses on a program to unite the racially di6ided workers in struggle special oppression, that this writer began to understand the real meaning of his emphasis on the role of the SL as a propaganda group+ The propaganda group label was not merely a sober recognition of the >realities", but the expression of a pragmatic outlook, which ignored the growing crisis of %merican and world capitalism+ 1obertson was without

a cohesi6e perspecti6e for building a re6olutionary party, and was proposing a type and le6el of acti6ity which seemed to him >sensible" and also, of course, comfortable, i+e+ work to which he was suited, work with the petty bourgeois strata+ Shortly before the London conference, Wohlforth attacked the >rough" draft which 1obertson had presented at the last moment to a :oint meeting of the Spartacists and the %4=I, on the floor and later in writing, for not pro6iding >the basis for a proper perspecti6e for the fused mo6ement", for being without a >perspecti6e on the de6elopment of the class struggle" in the 0S, nor of posing >any strategic orientation around which a fused mo6ement could be built"+ Wohlforth was then roundly attacked for attempting to pre6ent unity+ ,e had, howe6er, only spoken the truth+ %t the London 4onference, 1obertson was again to demonstrate that his primary concern was not the construction of a section of the party of the international socialist re6olution, but rather, in building a pettybourgeois personality cult+

TROTSKYISM TODAY# &art ; by Harry Turner Vanguar !e"sletter# Vol. 2 no. $# 3ebruary ()*(. T/e ()<< I8 0on on 8onferen,e an Its After'at/
Its participants expected that the %pril &(?? London 4onference of, the International 4ommittee FI4,G of the =ourth International would record the reconstruction of a center of international re6olutionary *arxism+ Instead its proceedings became a source of malicious glee and heartfelt relief to the enemies of Trotskyism, in general, and to the re6isionists of Trotskyism in the 0nited Secretariat of the =ourth International, in particular, as #oseph ,ansen bears witness in his preface to the pamphlet, Healy Reconstructs the Fourth International. The bulk of this pamphletJs contents, containing the contents of correspondence of members of Spartacist, the %merican 4ommittee for the =ourth International F%4=IG and /erry ,ealy, the secretary of the I4, had been leaked to the Socialist Workers 8arty FSW8G through a sympathi@er by the leader of Spartacist, #ames 1obertson+ %fter its publication, the pamphlet became a "best-seller", not only with the SW8 but also, with the Spartacist League+ 1obertson was indeed, as delighted to follow the lead of ,ansen in treating the 4onference as a hilarious farce, as he was in utili@ing ,ansen s agile pen in defending his beha6ior at that 4onference+ The pamphlet also contained a letter by this writer and 1obert Sherwood date %pril &', &(??, to /erry ,ealy in response to one of his+ In it, 1obertsonJs conduct at the 4onference was hotly defended, and ,ealyJs 9 in the case of both -oix ;u6rier and 1obertson 9 attacked+ !y #anuary &', &(?(, this writer had concluded that this, >defence of 1obertson+++was entirely in error"+ #oseph ,ansen, 1obertsonJs self-appointed defense counsel, is aghast that an >exhausted" 1obertson, who is >near collapse", can be summarily ordered to return to a session of the 4onference+ What abominable bureaucratic brutality<< !ut, a careful examination of all the facts in the affair 1obertson presents an entirely different picture+ 1obertson, whate6er his state of health prior to the 4onference, "as tired, and with good reason+ ,e had lost a nightJs sleep in a last minute effort at whipping together a draft document which was to be the basis on which the Spartacist and %4=I groups were to be united, and which he should ha6e completed months earlier+ !ut that doesnJt end the matter+ ;n the third day of the 4onference 1obertson had presented his di6ergent 6iews, including his position on 4uba, for t/e first ti'e before a world gathering of co-thinkers+ !ut he, e6idently, did not consider it worthwhile to stay for the afternoon session, in which delegates were able to react to the report and exchange 6iews+ .o< 1obertson decided this would be the ideal time for a nap< When awakened by another Spartacist delegate with a re5uest to attend the 4onference session, he bluntly refused to bestir himself and returned to sleep+ Is it any wonder then, that his demeanour was found to be arrogant and disrespectful to the 4onference< %h< !ut there were other delegates from Spartacist, reported one of its delegates, 1ose #+ Let us examine them+ In addition to 1ose #+, the other delegates were Li@ /+ and *ark T+ Li@ /+ was a young college student, at that time without a responsible position in the organi@ation+ *ark T+ was a relati6e newcomer to the organi@ation,

who was functioning as an alternati6e delegate only because he happened to be 3ngland attending graduate school+ 1ose #+ had been a politically inacti6e member of Spartacist for some time+ She had attended the 4onference as a delegate, only because it suited her plans while on a prolonged 6isit to the 3uropean continent+ /erry ,ealyJs remark in his letter to Turner and Sherwood that the, >relations within the delegates resembled that of a cli5ue", was an apt characteri@ation of the group+ Without 1obertsonJs presence, the delegates from other sections who wished to respond to SpartacistJs positions, would ha6e been, in effect, talking to themsel6es, and 1obertson, who is not burdened with false modesty, was well aware of it+ %lthough >tired", he was certainly in good enough health to ha6e attended the afternoon session, if he had felt it >worthwhile"+ We, at home, were dumbfounded by news of 1obertsonJs expulsion from the 4onference+ It was the last thing we expected+ With the prospects for unity with the %4=I gone glimmering, one could ha6e expected that 1obertson, on returning home, would ha6e first called a meeting of the Spartacist 1egional 3ditorial !oard F13!G 9 in reality the political committee of the national organi@ation 9to gi6e it an account of his acti6ities, and to plan future strategy+ %fter all, Spartacist prided itself on being a >democratic centralist" organi@ation< !ut no< 1obertson called a special meeting of the .P4 lo,al organi@ation to hear his report+ In the course of a B-part report, lasting almost K hours, the audience was also informed of an incident, of which his attorney, #oseph ,ansen, had not been told+ It seems that :ust prior to his expulsion, 1obertson and the rest of the Spartacist delegation, had been called to a special meeting with ,ealy and *ike !anda of the Socialist Labour League FSLLG+ They had, at the time, offered to >work something out"+ It was Robertson who refused to consider a rapprochement, who >:ust wanted to get out of there"+ Somewhat ama@ed, and not 5uite certain that I had heard him correctly, I cross-5uestioned him and was again informed that it was, indeed, 1obertson who had made the decision to break-off relations with the I4+ ;nly after that, did ,ealy call for his expulsion from the 4onference+ Thus, a 6itally needed unity of re6olutionary *arxists in the 0S was sacrificed , and a black eye handed to a world conference of Trotskyists, with whom Spartacist was in essential agreement, all because 1obertson had decided that he would not be comfortable in the same international with ,ealy or anyone else with authority, who was able to see through his pretentions as a >re6olutionary leader"+ I was then that I mo6ed the following three-part resolution that was defeated by a 6ote of &N to &A >F&G To critici@e 4de 1obertson for withholding a suitable apology for not attending a session of the I4 4onference 9and apology which would ha6e been of a principled character+ F$G To re5uires the 13! to reopen unity with the SLL and %4=I immediately on the basis of political agreement between the groups and on the basis that a break with the SLL and %4=I would be harmful nationally and internationally+ FKG To re5uest the 13! to place an account of the 4onference and differences in >Spartacist" and other published material in the mildest manner possible and indicating confidence that the misunderstanding will be bridged and unity consummated in the spirit of the re-opened unity negotiations+ I was con6inced at the time, that 1obertson and ,ealy, were e5ually responsible to blame for the :ettisoned unity, which might well ha6e heralded the re-birth of a strong re6olutionary *arxist organi@ation in the 0S, with all that it entailed internationally+ 0nder the circumstances, I saw no alternati6e to remaining in Spartacist, and attempting to build that organi@ation into the working class 6anguard party which the %merican and international working class re5uired+ It was almost $ and a half years later, that if finally became 5uite clear that 1obertson had no intention of building such a re6olutionary party+ 1obertsonJs perspecti6e was limited to the ac5uisition of a small student personality cult+ !ut the >form" which /erry ,ealy had chosen to expose 1obertsonJs >essence" had again, as in &(?$, gi6en him an organi@ation co6er+ Then, it was the unalterable statement, which could not be 6oted upon, but only signed+ .ow, it was an >apology" by 1obertson for his arrogant attitude towards the 4onference+ In addition, the organi@ational manoeu6ring with -oix ;u6riere, who should not ha6e been in6ited to the 4onference, in the first place, gi6en the existing political differences, also tended to pro6ide 1obertson with useful organi@ational camouflage+

,ad the unity gone through, would >1obertson ha6e had the charter+++with which he could do as he pleased+++excluding the politics of the international except those aspects with which he had particular agreement", as ,ealy belie6edC 8erhaps, but then the battle would ha6e taken place on clear political issues+ In the process of seeing how 1obertson "or5e to carry out the >politics of the international", a great deal more would ha6e been learned about his personality and his close associates, some of whom were serious about building a section of an international working class 6anguard party in the 0S+ The founding conference of the Spartacist League FSLG, which was held September &(?? in 4hicago, was able to record a membership of more than O'+ % tiny number, true, when compared with the thousands in the 0S 4ommunist 8arty, but not 5uite so insignificant, e6en when compared with the SW8 at that time+ ,owe6er, the SL was a basically unhealthy organism, whose decay was ine6itable and soon to accelerate+ Its self-identification as a not-yet 6iable >propaganda group" re6ealed a lack of perspecti6e, which was most >6isible" in its erratic press+ =rom that point onward, the SL began to fall apart as, first indi6iduals, and then groups, became con6inced that despite its correct political positions, it had no future as a re6olutionary organi@ation+ % year after the founding conference 1obertson was to sei@e eagerly on the >*emorandum on the .egro Struggle", which had been submitted by this writer in an attempt to shore up the organi@ation+ Fto be continued in 8art ?G+

TROTSKYISM TODAY .art < by Harry Turner Vanguar !e"sletter Vol 2 !o = A&ril ()*( T/e S&lit in t/e S&arta,ist 0eague
!y the fall of &(?), the Spartacist League FSLG was displaying increased symptoms on an incipient crisis+ % marked disorientation was becoming e6ident in diminished acti6ity and initiati6e in the local organisations, and in a falling membership+ The lack of perspecti6e demonstrated in the organi@ations self-description as a not-yet 6iable >splinter propaganda group", and by its infre5uently and irregularly published organ 9was, by then, beginning to unleash centrifugal forces within it+ #ames 1obertson, the .ational 4hairman and then-editor of >Spartacist", who was responsible for both the designation and publishing policy, supported the >*emorandum on the .egro Struggle", which this writer had submitted, as a timely and badly needed morale booster for the organi@ation+ %lthough it did, initially, ser6e that purpose, the crisis was only postponed for a few months+ The >*emorandum" was then to help bring it to boil with redoubled force+ This writer has been surprised at the ease with which the >*emorandum" has been accepted, but also perturbed at the almost complete lack of discussion by the SLJs political bureau+ .ot one of its members has examined the >*emorandum" critically, argued its merits and limitations, tried to concretely determine its applicability or to suggest impro6ements+ Instead the >leading" body of the SL ga6e it a bland and unanimous acceptance+ % dispirited and passi6e plenary session of the >central committee", held at the end of &(?), was also to adopt the >*emorandum" in the same manner, uncritically and unanimously+ The basic strategic and tactical orientation of the >*emorandum" has stood the test of time, has demonstrated its 6alidity, although some secondary aspects of its program ha6e re5uired modification in the light of de6elopments since &(?)+ !oth the pragmatic and dogmatic >*arxists" discard *arxist theory as a >guide to action"+ The dogmatist turns the body of philosophical, economic and historic knowledge into a set of rigid formuli, into a religious exercise+ The pragmatist re:ects >religion", and operates eclecticallyA whate6er >works" is good+ !ut without a unifying

theoretical conception which takes into account de6elopment, that which >works" at one moment, turns into its opposite at the next+ The >*emorandum" attempted to pro6ide the SL with an integral and coherent perspecti6e for the building of the re6olutionary socialist party, which unites *arxist theory and practice of the past to present reality 6iewed iale,ti,ally. !y the end of &(?) it was becoming increasingly clear that the post World War && expansion of world capitalism was ending+ The ruling class therefore could be expected to shore of the falling rate and mass of profit through an attack on workersJ wages and working conditions, and by shifting the >burden of the -ietnam war onto their backs"+ It would find it necessary to outlaw >the right to strike in ma:or industries"+ To defend its standards, the working class would be re5uired to go beyond the economic, >to an all encompassing struggle which includes the political plane+" In his discussions on the Transitional 8rogram, Trotsky made the point thatA >The idea of a fixed class of unemployed, a class of pariahs+++is absolutely the psychological preparation for fascism"+ % fascist de6elopment in the racially di6ided 0S, he felt, >will be the most terrible of all+" Trotsky had always emphasised the centrality of the .egro 5uestion to the building of a working class party in the 0S+ It was with this same understanding that the >*emorandum" posed the need for a turn to the trade unions, as a ma:or focus for the SL, in becoming the Leninist and Trotskyist 6anguard party+ It was at the point of production that !lack and White workers could become aware that >unity against the class enemy" is both possible and necessary+ In essence the >*emorandum" proposed building a transitional organisation in the trade unions, which would base itself on a transitional program, in which the struggle against special oppression was posed in the immediate interests of all workers+ The road into the ghettos was seen as beginning in the work-place, with the !lack workers who had been won to a class and socialist outlook+ They would conduct the fight for :obs, housing and education in the ghettos in a class, a re6olutionary socialist basis+ They would also fight for labor candidates and an independent 0abor party in the ghettos, united to the national Labor party based on the unions+ The >*emorandum" aimed at first attracting >the most oppressed and discriminated+++the most dynamic milieu of the working class", in TrotskyJs words, and, therefore, recommended rank and file caucuses 9inaptly named >ci6il rights" caucuses 9be initiated in those trade unions with a high proportion of !lack and Spanish-speaking workers+ That the workers from these minorities, and the young workers in particular, are the most radicalised sectors of the class, has been made abundantly clear+ The appearance of the !lack 8anther party, followed by the Poung Lords 9although on a confused program of reformism, guerrillaism and socialism 9their support among the !lack and 8uerto 1ico peoples, in spite of police frame-ups and murders, testifies to the re6olutionary potential which is present in these >most oppressed" layers of the working class+ !ut despite their militancy, !lack and Spanish-speaking workers cannot achie6e a working class identification, cannot be won to *arxian socialism, unless their experience the solidarity of white workers, expressed in the struggle against their special oppression+ In his con6ersation with Swabeck in &(KK, although Trotsky posed a possible national de6elopment, he emphasised :ust this conceptA the need for re6olutionists to carry on >an uncompromising, merciless struggle" against the >colossal pre:udices of the white workers+" In waging an >uncompromising" struggle against white chau6inism, the re6olutionists would, at the same time, cut the ground from under !lack nationalism+ %s the white workers became aware that racial discrimination played into the hands of the bossesH that any >ad6antage" that white workers recei6ed o6er !lack workers, was paid for by the lowing of wages and conditions for the class as a whole i+e+, t/eir wages and conditionsH as they

reached the understanding under the compulsion of necessity, and through the work of the re6olutionists, that only a ,lass solution, could end unemployment and exploitationH and conducted a class fight against special oppression in >their" own interests, then the !lack nationalist reactionary utopia of >communities" exploited by their own !lack capitalists would ha6e little appeal to the !lack workers+ It was this conception that would guide re6olutionaries in the rank and file caucuses+ ,a6ing achie6ed a base in unions with a high concentration of minority workers, the >*emorandum" pro:ected and expansion of the caucuses from indi6idual shop and union, into >inter-union" and >regional and national" networks of caucuses+ The resulting national organi@ation was seen as the analogue of the Trade 0nion 3ducational League FT03LG which the %merican 4ommunist 8arty had promoted in the early M$'s+ That organi@ation had campaigned inside the %=L on a program which included the call for industrial unionism, a labor party and a fight against racial discrimination+ The T03L had scored initial successes until the labor bureaucracy attacked it as a >dual union"+ In &($( when it could ha6e taken the leadership, it was transformed into the Trade 0nion 0nity League FT00LG+ It then initiated a real dual union policy, and withdrew its forces from the %=L, under the spur of StalinJs ultra-left turn+ The rank and file caucuses would not only pro6ide a base for recruitment into the re6olutionary party, but also an alternati6e leadership for organi@ed workers+ %t a re6olutionary moment, the caucuses would become the factory committees, the workersJ councils 9>So6iets" 9organs of >dual power+" !ut the SL was merely a student-oriented personality cult around 1obertson+ It was incapable of adopting, let alone realising this perspecti6e+ The SL paraded itself as the >proletarian tendency" 9but alas, only to students< It had concentrated for N years, at that time, on the professionals in .P4Js Social Ser6ice 3mployees 0nion 9 which drew non-speciali@ing college graduates 9without recruiting a single solitary soul+ !ut 1obertson used the defection of the SLJs $ hospital workers to :ustify an end to the concentration in the hospitals, after K months< 9 as if more SL members should not ha6e been sent in< In the ensuing struggle, 1obertson and his coterie were to thoroughly expose themsel6es as a fairly common 6ariety of petty-bourgeois radical academic circle+ The SL >splinter propagandist group" would be burnt-out by the trade union concentration demanded by the minority 9and besides, the forces could not be spared from the campuses+ !lack workers did not possess a >weltanshaung" and could not be recruited to a >splinter propaganda group"+ The SL should concentrate in unions whose members >are more like us"+ The !lack and Spanish-speaking workers are not super-exploited, but e6en if they are, it doesnJt matter< 4lea6er should >mobili@e the !lack masses", not a >splinter propagandist group" like the SL< With the premature departure of a section of the minority from the SL, the internal struggle was decided+ 1obertson pro6ed himself particularly adept at using e6en cruder bureaucratic tactics to force the remaining minority out of the SL, that the SW8 had used against the Spartacist forces+ %s we stated in the initial issue of -%./0%12 .3WSL3TT31A >The ebb in the re6olutionary socialist mo6ement, as seen by the fractionation into smaller circles, will, in the coming period, be re6ersed, as ob:ecti6e circumstances make clear the programmatic basis for its reconstruction+" %ll the indications are that the re6olutionary >flood" is now beginning, which will see the reconstruction of the world party of Lenin and Trotsky+ It is to this task that -%./0%12 .3WSL3TT31 is dedicated+ 3.2