Friday, January 18 2008 - 06:42 PM
Violent or nonviolent?
In the first comment post within the thread Industrial Government: A ‘concrete, real solution’ No Spin asked “Are you advocating revolution?” No Spin went on to quote passages from The Beatles’ Revolution (“…But when you talk about destruction” and the like) to which I wrote: …yes, I most certainly am advocating a revolution, but not necessarily of the violent sort alluded to through the lyrics you cited. As I have stated on several occasions, it is my belief that a sufficient amount of liberty still exists within the American political process for socialist revolution to be carried out, peacefully.
With that having been said, and as I wrote within the sixth comment post in the thread Wage Slavery (Part III), I should also say that, although we Marxist/DeLeonists do not advocate the use of violence as a means of bringing about socialist society, neither do we advocate pacifism. What we advocate is the establishment of socialist society. The problem is one having to do with tactics; tactics which are wholly dependent upon the sociopolitical conditions which exist at any given time. I believe that the Socialist Labor Party’s platform of socialist industrial unionism [or industrial government] offers the best – in fact the only realistic – chance of bringing socialism to fruition by nonviolent means. So too do I believe it to be the one way in which workers can organize themselves toward socialism while at the same time nullifying the capitalist class’ ability to maintain the status quo through the use of armed force.
To expand upon this theme I should like to say that I also understand that the Socialist Labor Party’s plan can only come about under certain qualifying factors. It would be completely dependent upon a certain amount of democracy which would allow the Socialist Labor Party to continue to advocate its intentions openly within the political arena and whilst imploring the working class to organize itself within the economic arena.
I believe that a majority of workers are not aware of it, but the methods for realizing peaceful change within America’s democratic process are being closed off at an alarming rate of speed. The ballot, for example, is being increasingly restricted to candidates representing the two major procapitalist political parties, and to their offshoot parties, and what were once referred to as “public airwaves” are permanently closed to the likes of the Socialist Labor Party and all other revolutionary political parties. And as mentioned by our “CMGINAV” and Ray Cunneff just a very few days ago, even certain mainstream/procapitalist presidential candidates such as Ron Paul, Duncan Hunter, Tom Tancredo, Dennis Kucinich, and Ralph Nader (of days gone by) are now being more and more excluded from the political process by way of the capitalist-class-controlled Commission on Presidential Debates, as well as by way of the ever increasing consolidation of the capitalist media in general. (“CMGINAV’s” and Ray Cunneff’s comments are listed within the thread I Do Not Understand; parent posting and third comment post, respectively.) Moreover, things are not much better – and in several respects they are much worse – on the economic field, where workers’ understanding of the concept of unionism is quite possibly at an all-time low. Furthermore, all of this is happening in the face of the fact that the capitalist system is heading toward a monumental crisis. These developments are, in fact, certain indications of where we are headed. They serve as testimony to the fact that the capitalist class lives in fear of widespread social discontent and that it is doing all that it can to either contain or to deflect it and channel it off into innocuous dead ends.
Most significantly, we Marxist/Deleonists know that we are involved in a race against time; that we shall either succeed or fail to enter the consciousness of a majority of our fellow workers before all avenues for nonviolent revolution are cordoned off. But regardless which way it eventually turns out, the need for true, positive and lasting change – for socialism – will only grow. Should we lose said race – should all avenues for peaceful change be someday closed – we socialists will not abandon our efforts to achieve our goal. For the alternative – complete and total industrial feudalism – is far too terrifying to “settle for.” Therefore, we revolutionary socialists do all that we are able to in order to convey our message now, knowing full well that should we fail the chances for a peaceful transition to socialist society will decrease and ultimately vanish.
In conclusion, I should say that we live in a world plagued with an ever increasing level of ruling-class-induced violence and anarchy, as the largely capitalist origins of the turmoil in Iraq and Afghanistan attests. And the longer the world’s working class consents to ruling class violence and anarchy, the more arduous it will become to realize humankind’s yearning for a “new order” worth living in.
So it is for these reasons that No Spin was entirely correct in his(?) giving the Socialist Labor Party’s plan “an ideological hug” because I believe that every human being who treasures peace, yet desires social justice and understands where our country – indeed the world is headed unless we achieve our goal, should support the Socialist Labor Party’s plan for “concrete, real solutions.” Lest our children and quite possibly ourselves suffer the consequences of our failure.

Persevere.
Yours in revolution.
Guy Marsh
Lancaster, 93536
Member-at-large:
Socialist Labor Party of America (est. 1890)
http://www.slp.org/

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(As per usual, any and all childish comments directed to this thread will be deleted.)

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