The Question of Building a Political Party in the United States

The issue of building a Marxist-Leninist Party in the United States is a critical and important one. Defending principles and upholding principles is a vital matter of state and the issue of the Party is crucial to this end. The question of what kind of society do we want is very much related to what kind of Party are we to have?  Furthermore it points to what organization is needed to uphold and defend rights and principles and why present organization of society is incapable of organizing to meet and defend such rights and principles.

As things stand right now, in my view, there is no genuine Marxist-Leninist Party in the U.S., no genuine Vanguard Party of the Proletariat and no genuine Mass Communist Party to lead, defend and assist the working class and people to become an independent sovereign and political force, with the aim and goal of building new arrangements of society that will defend their interests - to build socialism and communism. As contradictions in society are accentuating more and more along class lines and the wrecking of society is being consciously organized by the bourgeoisie and ruling class, the necessity for such a Party exists. 

Recently, a comrade shared with me an article they were especially interested on The Question of Building a New Type of Party by Baburam Bhattarai of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). This must of course be seen in the context of the CPN(M) document of Problems and Propsects of Revolution in Nepal This exchange of ideas can be read in the comments to my Dear Memnoch post.

Although, overall, I still need to examine Bhattarai’s documents and statements and investigate it more and thoroughly before coming to any conclusion, I simply do not agree with his introducing the notions of how the Party in the Soviet Union under Stalin could be seen as an end to itself and overlooking the aims and goals - and the aspirations of the working class and people towards constructing and building socialism and communism. This is how Bhattari presents the issue:

“…As an objective necessity to lead the war and construct socialism (which is by its very nature planned and centralized) in the period of worldwide fierce revolutionary upheavals prior to and just after the Second World War, this over centralized and militarized structure of the Party became a need and an inevitability, and it was indisputably established throughout the world through the Comintern. However, as Mao was to evaluate later, due to some metaphysical weaknesses inherent in Stalin the Party was seen as a monolithic and uniform object rather than as a unity of opposites and a basket of contradictions, and in the absence of a mechanism and process to continuously proletarize the Party with the participation and supervision of the class and the masses a new bureaucratic capitalist class was born and raised within the Party… [QBNTP, Bhattarai]

From what I can observe, Bhattarai targets the word “monolithic” and “uniform” in relation to the concept of the Party.  Never does he decsribe the role of the Party and it was in these terms and context that the concept of the Party of the Soviet Union under Lenin and Stalin can be seen as monolithic, solid and uniform on the basis of upholding political principles - a solid foundation for assisting the working class to rise to power and for addressing problems and contradictions as they arise in social life, but never as something that is eternal, forever and an end to itself, without an aim or a goal.  Without upholding and defending principles, the fight against bureaucracy, against revisionism and opportunism, will weaken the role of the Party in defending and assisting the working class.  By strengthening the Party on principles and to actively defend and assist the working class and people to become a political and sovereign force, it will draw the working class and people to further proletarianize the Party.

In response to this document on the issue of Party Building by Bhattarai, I am presenting the document What Kind of Party that was presented by Comrade Lal Singh on behalf of the Central Committe of the Communist Ghadar Party of India to the Second National Consultative Conference held on Dec 29-30, 1993, and was realeased for discussion in DISCUSSION: Quarterly Review of Contemporary Marxist-Leninist Thought.  Although the document is within the context of India’s circumstances and situations during this period of the early 1990s, the basic concept of the role of a Communist Party and furthermore What Kind of Party is needed for the development of the working class and people in their fight for sovierein political empowerment is vitally important for comrades in the U.S. to think about. 

What Kind of Party?

(Document adopted at the Second National Consultative Conference of the Communist Ghadar Party of India, held on December 29-30, 1993.)

Preface

We are standing at a very particular time in history, a time when the world bourgeoisie and reaction are launching their greatest offensive against the livelihood of the people and against the progress of society. There is a great offensive against Communism and many parties have turned their backs on the ideology and vision crucial for the working class to emancipate itself. This is a period of the retreat of revolution, the ebb of revolution, a period when the forces of counter-revolution are on the offensive.  

The Second National Consultative Conference was organised by the Communist Ghadar Party of India (CGPI) as part of the struggle to preserve the progressive forces and expand their ranks, to extend the space where the doctrine of communism can flourish and to prepare for the time when the working class and people will launch their own offensive against the world bourgeoisie.

The bourgeoisie in India has launched an unprecedented attack on the livelihood and rights of the people. It is blocking the path for the progress of society. At the same time it is caught up in a profound crisis, especially in the political sphere. To say that this crisis is because of the refusal of the working class and people to go along with the political system as it exists in the country today will be to state the obvious. It cannot be denied that the present economic and political system just does not work. It does not provide for the people. The system cannot benefit society and is only exacerbating the contradictions inherent to it. It is also doing the same internationally.

It will be another truism to say that the reason why the people of India suffer such problems as poverty, communal and other forms of violence, state terrorism, national strife and every kind of diversion, is because they do not have power. Hence the most important question which presents itself is how to provide the people with power. This is the key question of modern democracy and it is a challenge to the communists, to the working class and all those who are genuinely concerned about the plight of the people in India to provide a solution to this problem. Such a question cannot be answered without the clearest possible enunciation of the theme, What Kind of Party? 

Addressing the problem of how people can come to power poses a number of burning questions. There is the question of dealing with the existing parliamentary system, especially the role of the political parties; there is the question of the political process and the question of empowerment of the people. In reality, these problems are organically linked with one another and its is within this context that the questionwhat kind of party is needed to ensure the empowerment of the peoplehas emerged as the most important problem requiring immediate theoretical and practical answers.  

The CGPI has organised itself as a political party of the working class. However, the reality is that the vanguard of the Indian working class is split into many parties and groups. This is the single most important subjective factor holding back the revolution. To build the unity of the working class, and to restore the unity of its vanguard communist party, is the need of the hour. The discussion on unity can no longer be delayed because, even in such critical times, various factions of the fractured communist movement are sending entirely different and contradictory messages to the class. The time has come to elaborate these matters in full view of the class and answer the question, What Kind of Party? Once such a question is elaborated, all those in whose interest it is to build such a party will join together while those who persist on the path of disunity will part company. 

It is for this reason that for Party estimates that the work initiated by this conference is one of the most important tasks of the present period. No party can carry on the basis of an outmoded programme or obsolete tactics. The communists of today must have the resilience to deal with the present problems of the movement and of society, as was done by the communists before within their own conditions.  

In the course of elaborating the question What Kind of Party? the CGPI will work for the restoration of communist unity as the main means of strengthening the working class movement, while at the same time uniting with all the political forces for the empowerment of the people.

Read the full document:

What Kind of Party?
http://www.cgpi.org/pages/documents/wkp.aspx

Bush Executive Orders: Impunity Cannot Crush Resistance

A repost from the Buffalo Forum! 

Bush Executive Orders: Impunity Cannot Crush Resistance

President George W. Bush has issued yet another executive order aimed at resistance in the U.S., particularly against all who oppose the Iraq war. Titled “Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq,” it directly serves to criminalize the anti-war movement, its organizations, those that support them, as well as individuals. It gives the executive the sole power to decide who is guilty. Those branded by the government will have all assets taken, including funds, membership lists, equipment, buildings, and so forth. As with previous executive orders and terrorism laws like the USA PATRIOT Act, the language of the order is so broad it could apply to anyone. Indeed, the language is “any person determined” by the executive, to pose “a significant risk of committing” acts of violence that threaten the “peace or stability of Iraq,” or economic reconstruction or political reform of Iraq. The order also targets those who “materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, logistical, or technical support for, or goods or services in support of, such an act.” The desperation of the government to stop resistance is such that one could simply know someone planning an action the government deems might have violence — which is pretty much any demonstration — to be targeted (see article below “New Executive Order Can Be Used Against Protests” for more specifics). Resistance is a right that cannot be crushed with such orders. It is the government impunity such orders unleash that is criminal.

The significance of this particular order is that it is geared toward those opposing the Iraq war and that it so broadly sanctions impunity. It could for example, be used not only against the movement but against rival factions within the ruling class, such as at the upcoming Democratic convention. It is also coming at a time when Bush has systematically put in place other executive orders and directives allowing the president to usurp the power to declare a national emergency and then take over all governance. One such order states directly that “The President shall lead the activities of the Federal Government” in an emergency, declared again, by the president alone. As well Congress, far from rejecting these orders, adds to them. Last year’s Defense Authorization Act, for example, allows the president to use the military inside the country for law enforcement against Americans and to take over the National Guard of all 50 states without the approval of the governors, both illegal at that time.

These fascist arrangements must all be rejected as part of the struggle for rights.

http://buffaloforum.org/2007/08/impunity-cannot-crush-resistance.html

FYI:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/07/20070717-3.html

Reject the SPP, Tool of U.S. Annexation and War!

Reposting article from Voice of Revolution! 

 

One Humanity, One Struggle

Reject the Security and Prosperity Partnership, Tool of U.S. Annexation and War!

The Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), is a tool of U.S. annexation and war. It was created by executive dictate, with the U.S. bringing together the heads of state of Canada and Mexico and making certain they agreed on the SPP. There have been no laws passed, not even debate on the SPP by the legislative branches of government in any of the three countries. The U.S. decides, the executives of Canada and Mexico agree, then all three announce the decisions. The legislature and courts play no role, despite the fact that the decisions commonly are contrary to existing law and standards.

The content of the SPP is openly being directed by the top U.S. monopolies, which lead the National American Competitiveness Council (NACC). These include oil giant Chevron, GM, Ford, Lockheed Martin, GE, Merck pharmaceutical and WalMart. The NACC prepares reports and recommendations, which are implemented by President George W. Bush and imposed on Canada and Mexico, completely against the peoples of all three countries.

The meetings are held in secret with a huge military and police presence to protect these elected officials from the people. The next summit is taking place August 21-22 in Quebec and numerous actions are planned. And already, the SPP is showing its true colors — with the U.S. Army dictating that a planned public forum by activists, at a public community center located several miles from the summit, cannot take place. Instead, the U.S. military decided the community center would serve as its command center, in Canada. Thus the character of the SPP as a tool of U.S. annexation, war and repression is clear. We say U.S. Military and Police Forces Out of Canada! And Stay Out of Mexico!

The aim of the SPP is to create a North America of the Monopolies. The hope is to provide the U.S. with a stable and secure “homeland,” that includes all of Canada and Mexico. This will include integration and use of Canadian and Mexican military and police forces into the U.S. Northern Command, (NORTHCOM), all for use against the peoples at home and abroad.

It should surprise no one that right as the summit is being prepared, the head of NORTHCOM, Air Force General Victor “Gene” Renuart, is claiming, with no evidence of any kind, that al-Qaida is again building “cells” in the U.S. and that the military needs to triple its “response teams.” These teams are to be used inside the U.S. against the people. And President Bush recently issued an executive order allowing such use of the military in an “emergency.” The military already has a team of 3500 troops and Renuart wants two more of similar size.

NORTHCOM also issued a report called “NORAD, USNORTHCOM Plan for ‘Borderless Threats’ with Vision 2020.” As the title implies, the plan does not recognize borders but only U.S. dictate, claiming today’s world is “not a world of borders, but it’s a world of borderless threats, a world of cyber threats, a world of natural disasters on a fairly large scale that can cause substantial damage to our citizens and to their property.” The report also emphasizes that “the commands will partner with civilian agencies, the military Reserve components and the National Guard even more than they have in the past.” (NORAD is the military arrangement that already puts Canadian armed forces under U.S. command.)

The SPP, NORTHCOM and the concrete arrangements they have put in place indicate that the U.S. ruling circles are finalizing their arrangements for war and fascism, and that both require annexation. Additional indicators are recent executive orders by Bush that make the president the government, without Congress and the courts. One executive order puts the president in charge of government in the event of an “emergency”— one the president can declare at any time, claiming “terrorism,” or “natural emergency” or a health-related “pandemic-flu,” and so forth. He also issued an order that essentially targets anyone and any organization that opposes the “war on terrorism,” and war in Iraq, giving the government the ability to confiscate all resources.

The SPP is also designed to control and regulate the workers and natural resources of all three countries for the benefit of the top U.S. monopolies. Immigration is being used as a means to impose common identification cards on all, and to regulate who does and does not work and where. And while the government is giving every appearance that is trying to “close” the borders, in fact, as General Renuart indicates, the aim is to essentially eliminate the borders running east to west and create a single North American perimeter along the oceans.

The border fencing mainly serves militarization and provides an excuse for the U.S. military to get into Mexico, something it so far has not succeeded in doing. It did already manage to build portions of the fence on Mexican territory.

The disinformation and hateful laws and actions in the U.S. against immigrants have as a main aim whipping up antagonisms in the hopes of getting U.S. workers to side with their imperialist masters. It is also being utilized to integrate U.S. forces under the military, including state and local police and governments, as well as those of Mexico and Canada. This integration includes development of detention camps for tens of thousands, for use against immigrants now, against all who resist in the days to come.

The workers of all three countries are striving for fraternal relations of unity and cooperation. They despise these efforts to pit the peoples against each other, as the May Day actions and many others have shown. This drive of the working class for unity and cooperation, with the vibrant struggle to create Another World, is the biggest problem for the monopolies. The monopolies are using immigration and threats of “terrorism,” to try and neutralize unity and cooperation and split the workers into warring factions. We say no! Let all together carry forward the fight for political empowerment and work to strengthen our ties, people to people, organization to organization! We are One Humanity with One Struggle for a new world!

http://usmlo.org/arch2007/2007-08/VR070807.htm#01

Society Must Care for Mental Health Sufferers

Society Must Care for Mental Health Sufferers,
Not Make their Behaviour a Law and Order Question 

Follow-Up on the role of society and mental health sufferers.  Another article from the Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist-Leninist) continues to discuss the role of societyin assisting mental health sufferers.

Here is an excerpt:

 ”…How the Act will operate in practice, especially given the problem of resources and the lack of recognition of society’s responsibility, remains to be seen. However, it is certain that the fight is ongoing against bad legislation that will in practice do damage to communities and individuals. What is required is for society to take up care and responsibility for mental health sufferers, and for government to legislate to guarantee the resources for the appropriate social bodies to be able to fulfil this responsibility. The outlook underlying the government’s legislation is that there is a class of people separate from so-called normality. Social control is therefore necessary, the argument goes, over those with a “mental disorder” or “illness”. The role of mental health professionals in this scenario is to be agents of this social control and provide the rest of society with protection against those with disorders or illnesses. In this scenario, again society is let off the hook. The fact that society is the conditioning factor for the stresses that lead to mental health suffering for the vulnerable and sensitive is left out of account. With the loss of coherence that this denial brings about, degrees of stress and outright physical illness as a result are the norm, not the exception.

It cannot be accepted that an individual’s behaviour or departure from the prevailing ideological and cultural norms as decreed by those in power should be made the target of punitive legislation. Instead of being stigmatised and tragic cases promoted to justify the prohibition of basic freedoms, mental health sufferers, as with everyone with special needs of various degrees and kinds, should be affirmed as human beings and be given every support, including the right of self-determination. As a whole, the people must ensure that a human-centred society prevails and organise to bring such a society into being, in unity with all those that are oppressed by the present anti-social political and economic system…”

Read the rest of the article here:
http://www.rcpbml.org.uk/wdie-07/d07-038.htm