First Published: The Forge, Vol. 2, No. 9, April 28, 1977
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Malcolm and Paul Saba
Copyright: This work is in the Public Domain under the Creative Commons Common Deed. You can freely copy, distribute and display this work; as well as make derivative and commercial works. Please credit the Encyclopedia of Anti-Revisionism On-Line as your source, include the url to this work, and note any of the transcribers, editors & proofreaders above.
Yes, IS has discovered that we don’t allow Trotskyists to distribute their counter-revolutionary garbage in our contingents, at our meetings and anywhere else where we can prevent it.
IS is scandalized that when counter-revolutionaries refuse to get away from our contingent we take measures to ensure that they do. Once again IS has proven that they don’t understand at all what struggle against opportunism is. After defending opportunist groups like Mobilisation, “honest reformist” misleaders in the mass and working class movement, counter-revolutionaries of Bolshevik Union, they’re now rising to the defence of Trotskyists.
Trotskyism is a counter-revolutionary current through and through. For years Lenin led a struggle against Trotsky who became part of the Menshevik saboteur camp. Later, after a fierce and bitter struggle under the leadership of Stalin against this anti-Marxist current. Trotskyism was banned forever from the communist movement.
Trotskyists undermine revolutionary struggle with their anti-Leninist thesis of “permanent revolution” claiming that revolution is necessary in several countries at the same time. And today they’re in the counter-revolutionary camp once again because they reject new-democratic revolution and the national liberation struggles in third world countries.
In addition, by portraying the USSR as a “degenerated” workers’ state, and therefore a socialist country, they lend support to this social-fascist superpower. The USSR is not a workers’ state; on the contrary, it is a 100% capitalist state. The Trotskyists supported Soviet intervention in Angola and they spread their malicious lying propaganda about socialist countries like China and Albania everywhere.
It’s very clear that the contradiction between Marxism-Leninism and Trotskyism is an antagonistic contradiction. The Trotskyists are enemies of the revolution and in Canada they were excluded from the CCP in 1928 when it was still a Marxist-Leninist party.
How should we deal with them? The way has already been indicated in advance. We must exterminate these vermin, wipe them out and be rid of them. No mercy for the Trotskyists.
It’s true that we must constantly do educational work among the masses in order to prevent ideological deviations from influencing them. But the struggle against Trotskyism can’t be limited to one of ideologies.
IS’s concept that to better defeat the Trotskyists we should debate with them, let them participate in our meetings and distribute their propaganda during our activities is a dangerous liberal petty-bourgeois concept. Marxist-Leninists are not about to give counter-revolutionaries a chance to distribute their garbage.
But this is exactly what IS has done recently.
– At Rouyn, a woman Trotskyist was able to spout her counter-revolutionary trash at IS’s International Women’s Day meeting (The Forge, vol. 2 no.6) Did the IS comrades do any mass education about the nature of this rubbish? No, on the contrary. They kept silent and some even politely applauded.
– The same sort of scenario was repeated in Vancouver during the “coalition of Marxist-Leninist and progressive groups” March 8 meeting. In one of the workshops a Trotskyist woman went so far as to say that she was delighted to discover that finally “dialogue” was possible with Marxist-Leninists.
– IS allowed Trotskyists to distribute at the door of their March 22 meeting and when they decided to enter, IS let them in on the condition that they agree that IS’ “Manifesto against Bill C-73” was a proletarian document. They also had to promise not to sabotage the meeting! Naturally they accepted these conditions. But once the Trotskyists got inside they took the floor and presented their positions while IS gave no political explanation of Trotskyism.
– The League was the only member of the Bill C-24 Ad Hoc Committee in Vancouver to oppose the Trotskyists distributing their rotten literature at the door of the Committee’s meeting. IS however supported the Trotskyists because they didn’t want a confrontation.
– And now the icing on the cake: they are inviting Trotskyists and revisionists into their Bill C-73 committees. Some family!
The idea that we should allow counter-revolutionaries to speak out under the pretext of doing education among the masses is a bourgeois concept of free speech, and an intellectualist view of class struggle. Conciliation with Trotskyism is conciliation with the bourgeoisie. They are enemies of the revolution. We don’t debate with our enemies, we crush them.
IS’s attitude towards Trotskyists follows from its political line which is more and more marked with right opportunism. It’s no surprise that this is the same group that said: “Our League comrades have not yet understood that it is the masses who make history, that they lead class struggle and that they don’t need any Marxist-Leninists to do this.” (Our emphasis, our translation: Unite Proletarienne no.4 p.6)
Dumbfounding! Overwhelming! Marxist-Leninists who affirm that they’re superfluous, communists who say definitely that the proletarian masses don’t need a party. What kind of Marxist-Leninists are you anyway IS comrades?
With these ideas how can you possibly pretend to accomplish your task of creating the party?
If IS continues on this opportunist road the masses will proclaim that they can well do without those who abdicate before their task: guiding the proletariat and the masses to victory over capitalism and to setting up of proletarian dictatorship.