I studied the concept of the attached, well-meaning e-mail* from John Batchel and I do not find it convincing at all.
The need for a new, truly alternative, non-corporatist party that organizes labor on a program around the most basic needs of the people with catching slogans like : JOBS, BREAD, EDUCATION, HEALTH and PEACE is a matter of course and without SUCH AN ORGANIZING EFFORT human progress is clearly not to be achieved and no electorate battle can be used in order to advance these paramount goals.
Unfortunately the below documented Mail contains non of this.
It starts of putting labor into the category of "a third", which seems to me inappropriate to begin with. It just does not feel right, even though I do of course understand its reasoning within the US constitutional framework. But let us not be framed. Our reasoning must go beyond such bonding.
John Batchel's reflections do not offer any kind of program focusing on those immediate and burning issue, but they aim at "winning a green, democratic, demilitarized (?) socialism" in the future. Can you be more vague and at the same time be more wrong? This notion implies that the socialist efforts of the past were neither green, democratic nor "pacifist" enough to sustain. The socialism of the future has in this logic to lay down its arms before it can even begin to organize.
Such an attitude must lead to an opportunist bow towards the governing "Democrats". A working class party, that looks FIRST towards its possible allies among the corporate world before it has even begun to constitute itself must end up in the bed of the enemy. (BATCHEL is contradictory in his argument, when he states that the 'Democrats' are only "often" dominated by corporate interests. Further down he is more general, this does not hinder his watch for allies there .) The need for strategy and tactics in the struggle for peace and democracy obviously calls for alliances on the smallest common denominator and this seem to me at this point:
- At all means avoid an all out war with the Russians! Avoid nuclear catastrophy!
- Avoid further escalation of all conflict scenarios on the agenda!
- No lethal weapons to Ukraine!
- De-escalate NATO expansionism towards the Russian borders!
- Comply with all UN-resolutions, paramount the one in unanimous support of the MINSK Agreement!
- Stopp funding terrorists directly or through stooges in Arab World or through Turkey or thru any partner elsewhere!
- Stop Funding Israel's War and illegal Settlement Policies
- Meet HUMAN NEEDS at Home first!
- Bring all the troops home and give them jobs!
There is more of course. But such matter of contents must guide our search for coalition partners, for alliance buildings.
Racisms and intolerance are propaganda devices of the ruling class, instruments conceived for splitting the working class people, giving the wrong explanations for their ongoing misery and offering scapegoats they can go after.
Our tool must be educational in the first place. The most noble task of a new Labor Party, a new Communist Party has to be unity building among themselves and educate, educate, educate the working class people, helping to understand who the true antagonist is.
The focus on electorate coalition building, the hunt for allies, the building on the fear factor of more right wing trends ahead if we do not come closer is the wrong direction.
As long as labor is not capable of doing its basic educational job, fascism will take over with or without questionable allies from the ruling rich part of our societies.
This is true in Germany, where the more and more opportunistic tactics of a very soft and questionable LINKE helps the right wingers grow with every day. Electoral arithmetics will never ever help us out of the misery, neither with the help of five percent clause in Germany nor with giving birth to just another third party of some what the same style as we had before and with candidates hoping for the privileges of a public office.
I am absolute convinced that without a proper understanding of the past, especially of the most defamed STALIN period of Soviet history we will never be able to move forward to more humane societies. The Soviet history of the 30s, 40s and early 50s of the last century bear the most positive examples for human progress and this inspite of the terrible effects of the war waged against the first true social democracy on the earth. Best regards Irene
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