Written: September 1, 1977.
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Paul Saba
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September 1, 1977
Comrades,
At the close of our Detroit meeting, the Committee of Five was appointed to plan for and organize another meeting in order to proceed with our discussions. As we see it, the main question facing our trend is the question of what immediate steps should be taken to encourage its unification. Four organizations have already proposed the development of a leading ideological center as the immediate goal and El Comité-MINP has criticized this proposal and advanced an alternative. Since our discussion on this matter in Detroit was only preliminary, it needs to be pursued further and eventually, resolved.
However, it is also necessary to allow each organization represented in Detroit the opportunity to have input into this vital question. Consequently, we have decided to try to organize an exchange of views prior to calling the next meeting. In this light, we are 1) circulating a series of questions on which to focus discussion, 2) allowing ample time for each organization to draft a statement of its position, 3) calling for these statements to be sent to us at a prearranged time and 4) preparing to distribute a packet containing copies of each written statement to each organization two months prior to our next meeting. This procedure, we think, will ensure both adequate opportunity for collective input and sufficient preparation to make it possible to take a major stop forward the next time we come together.
We propose the following schedule:
September 1, 1977: Letter and questions circulated
November 15, 1977: Deadline for mailing responses
December 1, 1977: Packet mailed
February 11, 1978: Meeting to discuss proposals.
In order to make this schedule work several things are required: First each organization must submit its statement by the prearranged deadline. Any statements received after November 15 cannot be mailed out. So please be certain that your statements arrive on time! Second, each organization should strive for brevity with no statement extending beyond ten single-spaced pages. If every organization takes a full ten pages, the packets will be two hundred pages long! Third, each organization that desires its statement to be circulated should furnish us with at least thirty copies. Finally, each organization circulating a statement should provide us with a $5 donation to cover mailing costs. Comrades, please be sure to meet each, of these requirements. Otherwise our task will become a hardship.
In addition to organizing this exchange of written statements we also suggest that each organization undertake a study of the Iskra Period 1900-03 (we have included a brief bibliography for this purpose) as a historical example in which separate local organizations with diverse political viewpoints were eventually welded into a distinct trend, and subsequently, into an all-Russian political party. It is not our viewpoint that we should follow the exact course that was pursued in Russia but rather that the Bolshevik experience provides us with some general lessons which can be correctly applied to our concrete conditions.
Finally, we wanted to thank each organization that sent representatives to the Detroit meeting. While a small one, we regard the meeting as a real step forward.
Please address all correspondence and your statements to: W. Foster, PWOC, Box 11768, Phila., PA 19101.
For the Five,
Clay Newlin
1) What should be the relationship of national to local work be in this period?
2) Can there be a leading ideological center which is not a party?
3) Under what conditions would it be correct to establish such a center?
4) How much emphasis should be put on efforts towards unification as opposed to coordination at the national level in this period?
5) What is the next step that our trend must take? (Detail any structural changes in local organizations that are called for, the main tasks to be addressed, etc.)