First Published: Forward to the Party! Struggle for the Party!, No. 1, [n.d.].
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Paul Saba
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This is the first of several issues of the special journal on the programme of the party. The purpose of this journal is to provide an important form for discussion and struggle around the programme, among members of the RU and all potential party members. The title “Forward to the Party, Struggle for the Party!” was chosen to emphasize both the immediacy of the task of forming the Party and the fact that bringing the Party into being very soon means consciously struggling to carry out that task.
The key link in this is the discussion and struggle around the programme, focusing on the draft programme proposed by the RU, to achieve a qualitatively higher level of ideological and political unity as the very basis of the party.
As the introduction to the draft programme states, “Centered around developing the eventual party programme, this discussion and struggle can make use of past and present experience to serve the future. We hope and fully expect this struggle will enrich and deepen the revolutionary content of the programme to be adopted at the founding congress of the party.” The more thoroughly this discussion and struggle is carried out, by all future party members, the more the programme will be deepened and enriched, the greater the unity of the whole party around it, and the more powerfully the party will be able to lead the working class toward its revolutionary goal.
The articles in this first issue of the journal deal with the section of the draft programme, “Build The Revolutionary Workers’ Movement,” and with the basic class stand of the party as expressed in its programme. Each of the articles has the approach of taking a part of the programme, dealing with the revolutionary workers’ movement and the basic class stand, and summarizing work around this.
None of these articles represents the line of the RU; none has been approved (or disapproved) by leadership bodies of the RU on any levels. Instead, these articles represent the summations of particular RU comrades based on their study of these specific points of the draft programme and their own summation around them.
These articles should serve the purpose of “getting the ball rolling,” encouraging others to write summations and/or criticisms, questions, etc. around the draft programme in response to the points covered in these first articles, or other points of the draft programme.
In the future issues of the journal other articles submitted from readers of the journal–RU members and others–will be printed the way they are submitted, except for changes which the editors feel are necessary to make possible the clearest expression of the points being made in the articles–as one example, the subheads in the articles in this issue were added by the editors to make the reading of the articles easier. (We have also left space in the journal for writing notes.)
Carrying out the task of forming the party now, and actually building the party “from the bottom up,” means that ALL potential party members must actively take part in the discussion and struggle around the draft programme that will establish the basis of unity for the party. This journal is one important form for broadening and deepening that process, and we urge readers of the journal to make full use of it in that light. Forward to the Party! Struggle for the Party!