First Published: Unity and Struggle, Vol. VI, No. 1-6, May-June 1977.
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Paul Saba
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RCL holds that there are three basic periods in the life of the party, and Stalin, in summing up the history of the Russian Communist Party (Bolshevik), pointed these basic periods out very clearly, “a) the period of the formation of the vanguard (i.e., the party) of the proletariat, the period of mustering the party’s cadres (in this period the party was weak; it had a program and general principles of tactics, but as a party of mass action it was weak, b) the period of revolutionary mass struggle under the leadership of the Communist Party. In this period the party was transformed from an organization for mass agitation into an organization for mass action; the period of preparation was superseded by the period of revolutionary action, c) the period after taking power, after the Communist Party had become the government party.” (Stalin, Strategy & Tactics, pg. 29-30)
Generally we view a period as an interval of time marked by the coming in and going out of an objective process. Stages are determined by the development of a process. By there being contrasting or differing aspects (or tasks) of the process which are more pronounced at one point (or stage) than that which preceded it or follows it. Comrade Dimitrov put it this way. “These main periods in the party’s history naturally have their own stages of development.” (Sel. Works, Vol. 3. p.269. Sofia Press). Why is this important to see this in Party Building? Because. “If people do not pay attention lo the stages in the process of development of a thing, they cannot deal with its contradictions properly.” (Mao Tsetung. 4 Essays on Philosophy), pg. 43). Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought clearly lays this out and the experience of the proletariat in party building confirms that we must understand the period and stage we are in. in order to understand the historical tasks that we must accomplish in making proletarian revolution in the U.S.
We hold that this is the second stage of the pre-party party building period. The 1st stage emerged from the eclecticism which had gripped many advanced forces that arose in the fifties & sixties, and the key link in this 1st stage was the affirmation of the theory and ideology of M-L-M. This means that the advanced forces that emerged in the upheavals of the 60’s looking for a revolutionary theory to answer the problems posed by the revolutionary struggles of the masses, turned to the writings of Malcolm X, Fanon, Guevara, Mirighela, Nkrumah, Debray, Nyerere, Toure, Castro, Karenga, and others. This turns to eclecticism in search of a revolutionary Marxist-Leninist Communist Party in the U.S. to bring the science of revolution. Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought, to the spontaneous working class movement, because of the criminal betrayal of the “CP” USA. There were 2 major party building attempts in the 1st stage, the Provisional Organizing Committee (P.O.C.) first in 1958 which criticized the revisionism of the “CP”USA, but later sunk into the quicksand of bourgeois ideology itself with a consolidated “left” opportunist line. The 2nd attempt was made in 1962. Progressive Labor arose as the Progressive Labor Movement, later to declare itself the Progressive Labor Party in 1965. PL played a positive role at the outset, criticizing Soviet revisionism, but PL also sunk into the bog of opportunism. PL lines up with Liu Shao-chi against the Proletarian Cultural Revolution initiated by Mao Tsetung in China, and they began to take a consistent counterrevolutionary chauvinist line against oppressed nationalities in the U.S.
But clearly from the experiences of advanced forces in the 60’s what was necessary was to break with the eclecticism, and affirm the theory and ideology of M-L-M. In summing up these periods and stages one formulation is an obstacle in understanding the periods and stages in party bldg. in the U.S.
We say that the key link in the 1st stage was the affirmation of the theory and ideology of M-L-M, because of the vagueness and misuse of the formulation “1st stage was when ideology was key link”, and we say this formulation some comrades are using, is an obstacle to a clear understanding of the stage we are in now. Because it tends to lead to the misunderstanding that the struggle for correct political line is not an ideological task, just as in the next stage in which organizational tasks of party building will be key. Ideological struggles over those tasks will play a crucial part of the completion of those tasks. Theory is the summed up experience of the working class movement taken in its general aspect and as put forward chiefly by 5 Great teachers – Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin and Mao. By ideology (though at times these are used interchangeably) we mean the stand, worldview and methodology of the proletariat, i.e., dialectical and historical materialism. But the practice of the Dangerous Duo shows that the formulation “ideology was the key link” is an obstacle, because they use this formulation to liquidate the ideological tasks of this stage, and to misunderstand the role of ideology generally.
The struggle over the correct political line, which is the key link at this stage in party building, is an ideological struggle, and there are ideological tasks throughout the life of the party. To liquidate the importance of building the party on the ideological plane would sabotage the ideological & political foundations of the party we struggle to build, because to the degree we belittle proletarian ideology, we open the door wide to revisionism and bourgeois ideology.
The question of political line as the key link must push forward the development of a program (i.e., maximum and minimum – program and strategy and tactics for carrying them out) around which genuine Marxists-Leninists, through ideological struggle, can demarcate themselves from the opportunists and therefore principly unite. The polemics around political line must be aimed at the program, and it is in this struggle over political line that our practice of proletarian ideology is confirmed. But we must not deal with polemics in the abstract, they must be aimed at a program so that in the ideological struggle over political line that is key in this stage, the scattered political lines on the burning questions of proletarian revolution in the U.S. must be forged into a party program through ideological struggle in propaganda, forums, joint theoretical and practical work, exchanging theoretical materials and waging the theoretical and practical form of class struggle to achieve a correct and comprehensive system of views – that is a system of answers to the revolutionary struggle, which Marxist-Leninists and advanced unite around and also upon which a party organization can be formed.
And in the process of ideological struggle over the correct political line, we can demarcate the genuine from the sham. We must sum up the results of our own, as well as others’, practice in polemics that promote genuine unity based on sharp lines of demarcation, analyzing the correctness of the political line measured by the concrete practice in the crucible of class struggle and how it corresponds with the theory & ideology of M-L-M, that is to say, we must unite M-L-M with the concrete practice of proletarian revolution in the U.S. Lenin says that “. . . if the polemic is not to be fruitless, if it is not to degenerate into personal rivalry, if it is not to lead to a confusion of views, to a confounding of enemies and friends, it is absolutely essential that the question of the programme be introduced into the polemic. The polemic will be of benefit only if it makes clear in what differences of substance or differences on partial questions, whether or not these differences interfere with common work in the ranks of one and the same party, only the introduction of the programme question into the polemic, only a definite statement by the 2 polemicizing parties on the programmatic views, can provide an answer to all these questions, questions that insistently demand an answer.” (Lenin, “Draft Programme of Our Party.” LCW, Vol. 4. pp. 230-31).
Political line is the key link at this stage in the pre-party period, which we must firmly grasp to propel the revolutionary motion toward the building of the party forward.
The two simultaneous tactics of Party Building are Uniting Marxist-Leninists and Winning the Advanced to Communism.
One of these aspects must pay the leading role and give this simultaneous task its character and the conscious element (the Marxist-Leninists) must, in order to win the Advanced, that is, make the Advanced communists, take the leading role – “Marxist-Leninists Unite!” therefore is principal. This aspect, the principal aspect, is the catalyst that makes the entire process work, and while the Marxist-Leninists unite, simultaneously the Advanced are won to Communism. In order to win the Advanced to Communism it must be the Marxist-Leninists who bring the science of M-L-M into the workers movement causing the fusion. The workers movement is spontaneous and not based on the science of proletarian revolution. This is the job of the communists (the Revolutionary theoreticians) to introduce the science of M-L-M, the science that will lead the proletariat under the leadership of a communist vanguard party to victory in armed struggle to overthrow the bourgeois state.
The working class movement does gravitate towards socialism; but scientific socialism is brought to the workers from the outside because the spontaneous movement of the workers also gravitates more toward bourgeois ideology which is what keeps the working class from the science of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tse Tung Thought. “The working class spontaneously gravitates towards Socialism, but the more widespread (and continuously revived in the most diverse forms) bourgeois ideology nevertheless spontaneously imposes itself upon the working class still more.” (Lenin, What Is To Be Done, pg. 51) Stalin raised in relationship as to how the science would be brought into the working class movement: “Here is what Marx and Engels say in their Manifesto: ’The Communists (i.e. Social Democrats),... are on the one hand, practically, the most advanced and resolute section of the working class parties of every country, that section which pushes forward all others; on the other hand, theoretically, they have over the great mass of the proletariat the advantage of clearly understanding the line of march, the conditions, and the ultimate general results of the proletarian movement! Yes. the ideologists ’push forward’, they see much farther than the great mass of the proletariat, and this is the whole point.” (Stalin, Works, Vol. 1, pgs. 6465)This sums up very clearly why is necessary to fuse the science of M-L-M with the workers’ movement, why the Marxist-Leninists must take the leading role in this fusion in relationship to the process of party building, the role of the party as well as the party’s composition.
Within the process of Party Buildings the fundamental contradiction is fusion of the communist movement with the working class movement. There are two aspects of each of these separate contradictions. In the communist movement it is (1) Marxist-Leninist Unity vs (2) Marxist-Leninist Disunity and in the workers’ movement it is (1) the fusion with M-L-M vs (2) the spontaneity of the working class without M-L-M.
At present, the state of the Communist Movement is marked by Marxist-Leninist disunity, the Workers’ Movement by spontaneity, these are the principal aspects of these contradictions. But if we are to build the party and make revolution, Communists must struggle to transform the principal aspects of these contradictions to Marxist-Leninist unity and fusion of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tse Tung Thought with the spontaneous workers’ movement, i.e. winning the advanced to communism.
Until the science of M-L-M is fused with the working class movement the proletariat does not see that their aim is the overthrow of capitalism and that “their conquest of political power (dictatorship of the proletariat)” is the vital “means of achieving the victory of socialism.” The proletariat fights but their consciousness, “exclusively by its own efforts” is not Marxist-Leninist but mainly trade unionist, and their fighting is divided. However, when the Marxist-Leninists bring the science of M-L-M into the workers’ movement, the proletariat begins to understand the need for a proletarian revolution and the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat. Therefore, it is the duty of the Marxist-Leninists to unite to fuse the science of M-L-M with the working class movement, to imbue the workers movement with Marxist-Leninist consciousness and thereby give the spontaneous working-class movement a conscious character.
In A Retrograde Trend in Russian Social Democracy, Lenin lays out the definition of what an advanced worker is. We agree with his definition and think that the essence of this definition applies in the U.S. today, and that the better situated strata of the working class responds to socialism more rapidly and this is true today. Lenin specifically said: “The history of the working class movement in all countries shows that the better-situated strata of the working class respond to the ideas of socialism more rapidly and more easily.” (A Retrograde Trend in Russian Social Democracy, pg. 26) By advanced worker we mean “those who can win the confidence of the laboring masses, who devote themselves entirely to the education and organization of the proletariat, who accept socialism consciously and who even elaborate independent socialist theories . . . workers, who despite their wretched living conditions, despite the stultifying penal servitude of factory labor possess so much character and will power that they study, study, study, and turn themselves into conscious social-democrats – the working class intelligentsia.” (Ibid, pg. 26-27). We think that this definition should be studied and used as a guide by Marxist-Leninists and advanced forces in applying this to the concrete conditions today in the U.S.A.
The conditions which produce the advanced worker in the United States are not exactly the same as during Lenin’s time. Stalin pointed out, “the new productive forces require that the workers in production shall be better educated and more intelligent than the downtrodden and ignorant serfs, that they be able to understand machinery and operate it properly.” (History of CPSU(B), pg. 125) Imperialism is the highest stage of capitalism. Based on these concrete conditions with the development of imperialism the development of the productive forces have resulted in a broader strata of “belter situated workers” and therefore, despite a huge level of opportunism in the U.S., more advanced workers more advanced numerically and more advanced workers in the sense that the level of the productive forces today require that the worker be more educated, and at a higher level of consciousness “to operate the machinery properly.”
But on the other hand fusion in the U.S. is at a low level between the communist movement and workers’ movement because there has been no genuine communist party since 1957 and due to the high level of opportunism based on superprofits imperialism gets from the exploitation of Asia, Africa and Latin America and oppressed nationalities inside this country, which makes it possible for imperialism to bribe a small sector of the working class in the U.S. and gives concessions to others. Opportunism exists to such a high level that the “CP”USA has degenerated into revisionism. The spontaneous working class movement is “led” by a large number of bribed elements such as the labor aristocrats, revisionists, as well as economists and other social props of the bourgeoisie because there’s no vanguard Marxist-Leninist party to introduce scientific socialism into the working class movement.
The advanced worker is class conscious, politically active, can win the confidence & trust of the masses, educate and organize the proletariat, studying and actively seeking answers to questions thrown up by the movement and society, and once socialism is laid out to them they will consciously accept it, and will become a communist based on their contact with M-L-M and their active study to turn themselves into Communists.
Lenin pointed out that “everywhere and at all tunes the leaders of a certain class have always been its advanced”, and this is true here also because the workers’ struggles in the 60’s, the black liberation movement, the anti-war movement, each brought forth such examples of advanced workers. In this stage of the pre-party period when political line is the key link we must aim our propaganda & agitation mainly at the advanced who are located in large scale industries and who are part of the spontaneous working class movement, and begin to do necessary concrete analysis to see what workers are advanced based on applying the essence of Lenin’s definition to our concrete conditions in the U.S.A. as well as workers response to the analysis put forward in our propaganda, questions that the workers raise about our propaganda and the lines they put forward, and begin to select advanced workers that can be pulled into study circles and developing factory nuclei.
“In every country there has been a period in which the workingclass movement existed apart from socialism, each going its own way; and in every country this isolation has weakened both socialism and the working class movement. Only the fusion of socialism with the workingclass movement has in all countries created a durable basis for both. But in every country, this combination of socialism and the working-class movement was evolved historically, in unique ways, in accordance with the prevailing conditions of time and place (our emphasis). In Russia, the necessity for combining socialism and the working-class movement was in theory long ago proclaimed but it is only now being carried into practice. It is a very difficult process and there is therefore nothing surprising in the fact that it is accompanied by vacillations and doubts.” (Lenin. Party Work in the Masses, pg. 9)
During the revolutionary life of the CPUSA, socialism was being brought to the workers movement in the factories, trade unions, and to mass organizations. But fusion in the U.S. was turned around almost to a standstill because of the betrayal of the “CP” USA with its consolidation of revisionism in 1957. The U.S. proletariat has been without its vanguard, the conscious element in fusion, to guide the spontaneous workers’ struggles to conscious class struggle and victory. Therefore fusion in the U.S. is low.
Without a genuine Marxist-Leninist Communist Party the working-class movement in its struggle against monopoly capitalism is spontaneous and “led” by economists, revisionists and other bourgeois social props, it lacks the science to turn its struggle into a powerful movement lo violently overthrow the bourgeois stale and establish the dictatorship of the proletariat.
“When this fusion takes place the class struggle of the workers becomes the conscious struggle of the proletariat to emancipate itself from exploitation by the propertied classes, it is evolved into a higher form of the socialist workers’ movement, the independent working class Social Democratic Party. By directing socialism towards a fusion with the workingclass movement, Karl Marx and Frederick Engels did their greatest service. They created a revolutionary theory that explained the necessity for this fusion and gave socialists the task of organizing the class struggle of the proletariat.” (Lenin, Retrograde Trend in Russian Social Democracy, p. 3)
The concrete conditions in the U.S. show that the communist movement is separated from the working class movement. Because the proletariat has lost its vanguard, its communist party, the U.S. working class movement and scientific socialism are separated.
Lenin waged polemics against the economists who said that all was needed was the economic struggle – strikes and trade unions. Economist belittle the introduction of the conscious element into the working class movement. Lenin said, “Hence, our task, the task of Social Democracy, is to combat spontaniety, to divert the working-class movement from this spontaneous trade-unionist striving to come under the wing of revolutionary Social-Democracy.” Lenin, What Is To Be Done, pg 49).
”Comrade Stalin in the pamphlet ’Briefly About the Disagreements in the Party’, sums up the views of the Lenin wing of Social-Democracy on the subject of fusion as follows: ’What is scientific socialism without the labour movement? A compass which, if left unused, can only grow rusty and then has to be thrown overboard. What is the labour movement without socialism? A ship without a compass which will reach the other shore in any case, but would reach it much sooner and with less danger if it had a compass.
“Unite the two and you will get a splendid vessel, which will speed straight towards the other shore and reach a haven unharmed. Unite the labor movement with socialism and you will get a social democratic movement which will speed straight towards the •promise land.’ The whole history of the working class struggle in Russia has brilliantly confirmed the important theoretical conclusion of Comrade Stalin’s. In the pamphlet in question Stalin subjected the opportunist theory of Spontaniety to withering criticism and gave a reasoned explanation of the role and significance of a revolutionary party and of revolutionary theory for the working class. ’The labour movement’ wrote Stalin, ’must be united with socialism; practical activities and theoretical thought must merge into one and thereby lend the spontaneous labour movement a Social Democratic character . . . Our duty, the duty of Social Democracy is to direct the spontaneous labour movement from the path of narrow trade unionism to the Social Democratic path. Our duty is to introduce socialist consciousness into this movement and unite the advanced forces of the working-class in one centralized party. Our task is always to be at the head of the movement and tirelessly combat all those foes or ’friends’ who hinder the accomplishment of this task.” (,em>Biography of Joseph Stalin, p. 14-15).
The building of the vanguard communist party is the “biggest step forward towards this fusion”, (Retrograde Trend in Russian Social Democracy, pg. 4) and fusion continues throughout the entire life of the Communist Party.
Our concrete conditions in the U.S.A. dictate for genuine Marxist-Leninists and advanced forces to strengthen this fusion and build the Revolutionary Marxist-Leninist Communist Party. The “highest form of class organization of the proletariat.”
Propaganda is the chief form of activity in the pre-party period, the period in which party building is the central task. And this propaganda must principally unite Marxist-Leninists and Win the Advanced to Communism. Propaganda is the means by which the teachings of scientific socialism are spread among the masses. The propaganda piece contains within n many ideas so that the particular topic can be understood in its totality. In his pamphlet, The Tasks of the Russian Social-Democrats, Lenin describes the content and character of communist propaganda and what the aim of communist propaganda is:
“The socialist activities of Russian Social Democrats consists in spreading by propaganda the teachings of scientific socialism, in spreading among the workers a proper understanding of the present social and economic system, its basis and its development, and understanding of the various classes in Russian society, of their interrelations of the struggle between these classes, of the role of the working class in this struggle, of its attitude towards the declining and the developing classes, towards the past and the future of capitalism, and understanding of the historical task of international Social-Democracy and of the Russian working class.. ” (Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 2. p. 239, Progress Pub.)
There are different ways of spreading communist propaganda, but the Communist International guided us to the chief forms of propaganda, which they laid out in 1921 from their 3rd Congress:
(i) Individual verbal propaganda
(ii) Participation in the industrial and political labor movement.
(iii) Propaganda through the party press and distribution of literature. Every member of a legal or illegal Party is to participate regularly in one or the other of these forms of propaganda.” (C.I. Resolutions on “Principles of Party Organization” 1921. pg. 16)
The Communist International put verbal propaganda first, that is discussion with the workers, face to face (as for instance the struggle over political line in the presence of and with the participation of the advance). Second it upholds the existence of Communists working within the working class movement, necessarily putting forth communist lines on all issues, as the next form of propaganda.
Next is printed party propaganda. Too often we have a tendency to downplay the first altogether (especially non-verbal petty bourgeois intellectual types) and also not understand that our presence as communists within the working class movement is to teach i.e., bring the science of M-L-M to the workers in a concrete and practical way and by example. Building study circles, developing factory nuclei and leading the spontaneous working class movement are the practical and organizational work that goes on even while propaganda is the chief form of activity.
Communist propaganda, whose aim and objective is to educate, train and raise the working class consciousness to a revolutionary proletarian class level is inseparable from the task of political exposure and agitation. Agitation explains or presents a single idea for the purpose of arousing political action, and in the main these ideas are expressed through participation in workers struggles, the living word, and agitational literature. Communist agitation must give a conscious character to the spontaneous struggle of the masses. To quote Lenin, “Inseparably connected with propaganda is agitation among the workers.” “Agitation among the workers means that the Social Democrats take part in all the spontaneous manifestations of the working class struggle, in all the conflicts between the workers and the capitalists over the working day, wages, working conditions, etc. Our task is to merge our activities with the practical everyday questions of working class life, to help the workers to understand these questions, to draw workers’ attention to the most important abuses, to help them formulate their demands to the employers more precisely and practically, to develop among the workers consciousness of their solidarity, consciousness of the common interest and common cause of all the Russian workers as a united working class that is part of the international army of the proletariat . . .” (Op. Cit. pg. 329) It is through propaganda and agitation that the link between Marxism-Leninism- Mao Tsetung Thought and the working class movement is fused. Propaganda without agitation becomes sterile, because there exists no connection between it and the day to day abuses of working class life. Agitation without propaganda becomes spontaneous, because the total political significance of the situation cannot be clearly understood, so therefore the movement lacks proper direction.
Clearly our propaganda must be aimed at the advanced workers principally, in the pre-party period, the period of the formation of the vanguard of the proletariat, i.e. winning the best elements of the working class to the side of communism. This propaganda should not lower its content to the level of the non-class conscious worker, but must constantly raise the level of consciousness of the advanced, and at the same time raise the political consciousness of the average and lower strata of the working class.
In our propaganda, the chief form of activity in this period when the party is in formation, we must uphold Marxism-Leninism-Mao-Tsetung Thought in theory and in practice. And propaganda must carry the struggle against right opportunism the main danger, (on the right O.L. does no propaganda and trifling polemics) and its reverse side, “left” sectarianism (the duo in upholding propaganda as the chief form of activity liquidates all other forms of struggle). We must oppose every stripe of opportunism that attempts to obstruct the irrestible motion toward building the Revolutionary Marxist-Leninist Communist Party.
People of the World Unite to Smash U.S. Imperialism and U.S.S.R. Social Imperialism – the 2 Superpowers!
Marxist-Leninists Unite – Win the Advanced to Communism!
Defeat Right Opportunism, the Main Danger – Intensify Struggle Against the “Left” Sectarian Deviation!
Build a Revolutionary Marxist-Leninist Communist Party Based On Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought!
1. We began with the overall world situation, outlining the four fundamental contradictions of imperialism, the two sharpest contradictions which give rise to two rising trends, revolution and war. We held that revolution is the main trend in the world today and Soviet Social Imperialism the main source of war, though they try to cover their rapacious designs with the sign board of “socialism” when capitalism has been restored there, and with the bogus cry of “Detente”.
2. That the central task of Marxist-Leninists and advanced forces in the U.S. at present is party building, and has been since the historic tragic consolidation to revisionism of the “CP”USA in 1957. But party building is the central task not the only task as the “left” sectarians hold. The main danger to the Communist and workers movements is revisionism and right opportunism, coming principally from USSR-“CP”SU revisionism in state power, and in the U.S.A., their 5th column “CP”USA.
That R“CP” and ’C“L”P” are no longer in the anti-revisionist communist movement, and main source of revisionism in anti-revisionist communist movement is O.L. who is rapidly consolidating to revisionism manifested clearly by its menshevik call for a party of the Martov type.
Clearly we see the main danger as revisionism from the right, led by OL in the anti-revisionist communist movement, but at the same time a rising danger has been the “left” infantile sectarianism of the Dangerous Duo – PRRWO & RWL. Both of these lines have been manifest inside our own organization, put forward in essentially menshevik. i.e., hidden and underhanded methods, but we are struggling against “left” and right mensheviks.
3. We held that this is the second stage of the pre-party, party building period. The first being the stage emerging from eclecticism, in which the affirmation of the theory and ideology of M-L-M was key. The second, the present stage, in which the ideological struggle over the correct political line, i.e., the application of the theory of M-L-M to the concrete conditions of proletarian revolution in the U.S.A. is key, and by means of which we will be able to confirm whether comrades are actually practicing M-L-M ideology, i.e., the stand, viewpoint and methodology of the proletariat, dialectical and historical materialism. But we see this key link as an ideological task and we see that there are also organizational tasks even at this stage of the party building period such as study circles, factory nuclei, fractions in mass organizations.
4. We also waged a polemic against and tried to correct the vagueness and misuse of the term “the 1st period was when ideology was key link”, because it tended to lead to a misunderstanding that the struggle for correct political line was not an ideological task. Just as in the next stage in which organizational tasks of party building will be key. Ideological struggle over those tasks will play a crucial part of the completion of those tasks.
We stressed that by theory we meant the summed up experience of the working class movement taken in its general aspect and as put forward chiefly by 5 great teachers – Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin and Mao. By ideology (though at times these are used interchangeably) we meant the stand, worldview and methodology of the proletariat, i.e., dialectical and historical materialism.
5. We pointed out how the question of political line being key link had to further the development of a program [i.e., maximum and minimum program and strategy and tactics for carrying them out] around which genuine Marxist- Leninists through ideological struggle can demarcate themselves from the opportunists and therefore principly unite. And that one clear relationship of the dangerous O.L. party building motion, which was programless and the erratic “leftism” of the Duo was that neither had or gave priority to program!
6. On the question of advanced worker we held to the essence of Lenin’s definition of 1899 in Russia, but paraphrased it thus: “one who is class conscious, politically active, can win the confidence and trust of the masses, educate and organize the proletariat, studying and actively seeking answers to questions thrown up by the movement and society, consciously accept socialism and will become a communist based on their contact with M-L-M and their active study to turn themselves into Communists”.
But at the same time we recognized the differences in concrete conditions between Lenin’s Russia and the degree of fusion between Revolutionary Marxism and the spontaneous working class movement at that time and in the U.S. today. We held that the productive forces of the U.S. had produced more advanced workers but that because of the absence of a genuine CP and the level of opportunism created by imperialism and the scattered state of the anti-revisionist communist movement, fusion was low.
7. We held that the two most important tactical tasks of this period were “Marxist-Leninists Unite – Win the Advanced to Communism”. We held that Marxist-Leninists unity versus Marxist-Leninists disunity was the principal contradiction among a number of contradictions in party building generally. And that in the entity Marxist-Leninists Unite – Win the Advanced to Communism, the basic initiating form of fusion, which is a fundamental principle of Communist parties, Marxist-Leninists Unite was principal.
Marxist-Leninists unite was principal because it played the leading role, it was the lever, the initiating factor and catalyst that made the entire process Marxist-Leninists Unite – Win the Advanced to Communism happen simultaneously, (though we rejected the equilibrium theory put out by the “left” sectarians, or the separation of the tasks put out by the right.)
8. We held that propaganda was the chief form of practical activity, in this period, but that it was inseparable from agitation. And we put forward that we recognize not merely written propaganda, but uphold all forms that the C.I. put forward, i.e., 1. Verbal 2. Participate in workers movement. 3. Written.
In general we raised struggle against the main right danger and the rising “left” sectarian deviation. We tried also to make self criticism for the slowness and right deviation of our practice around taking clear positions on party building.
During this period in which we put together this paper, RCL (M-L-M) has undergone extremely significant changes. Not only the change from CAP to RCL and what that implies and entails, but because of intensified internal struggle, we saw the crystallization of certain Right lines (tailing O.L.) and “Left” (tailing the Duo) tendencies which have resulted in the ejection and flight of some opportunists and mensheviks. This is a good thing, it is part of the process of bolshevization, a formidable and lengthy process, involving intensive study and training and revolutionary practice and the remoulding of world view in the development of a party which is “fully consolidated ideologically, politically, and organizationally” and comes not merely by proclamation as some of our “instant bolsheviks” seem to think.