Greens, socialists, WSWS, bi-partisan regime, Arianna

[Armand Diego <causebellum@xxxxxxxxx>]

These are all great discussions for Marxists as they
relate to *concrete* questions of practical work.
Something purely intellectually inclined or burnout
socialists have difficulty grasping.

I made the conscious decision, during my stay in
California this year, to dedicate most of my time to
practical work rather than at my keyboard.  Both the
Gonzalez for Mayor of San Francisco and the Camejo
campaign for governor had achieved the desired
objective of keeping me busy doing rewarding political
work.

I would not elaborate on each of the points raised in
this discussion, but just give you a synthesis of the
positions of my organization, the Left Party
(http://www.leftparty.org) and that of our newspaper
(which is broader than just the Left Party) at
http://www.sf-frontlines.com

I will also try to correct some of the misstatements
written in this list re: Camejo, the Greens, etc

Camejo for Governor and Gonzalez for Mayor campaigns:

* They both offer the opportunity, through a series of
approximations, to develop consciousness among broad
layers of workers (particularly Latinos and African
Americans) and youth of the need to break with the
bi-partisan political regime, the "lesser evil"
strategy of reformists and liberals, and to build a
truly independent political movement based on the most
dynamic forces on the ground *at this particular
moment* in the US: broad layers of students and
working class youth and limited layers of labor
activists and workers in communities of color.

* For our organization, the characterization departs
from the fact that no matter how advanced our program
and method of party building is, there is no way for
socialists and working class activists to build a
significant movement if significant layers of our
natural constituencies *DON NOT BREAK WITH THE
DEMOCRATIC PARTY* towards the left.

* As we did in 1996 and 2000, we are *accompanying*
those willing to make that break to the left,
comradely arguing with them our ideas while working
together to broaden and make that movement grow.  We
don't just want to recruit more members to our
organization (which we are doing) but, more
importantly, to help develop social consciousness
among broader and broader layers of society.

* We do understand that people does not jump from
point A to point Z in their consciousness, but through
a series of *approximations.*  Today's approximation
to that working class and socialist consciousness has
a name and is a concrete and objective factor (though
small) in US politics: the Green Party and the
millions who looked upon it as "their" party.

* Certainly this is NOT an straight forward march to
the left.  The Green Party and the Greens in general
are feeling the enormous pressure of ruling class to
capitulate, turn back to the right, lose what they
already achieve.

As socialists, we are positioning ourselves as the
allies of those willing to resist those pressures.
For if they capitulate, a great opportunity will be
lost, again. Staying on the sides, uttering slogans
and characterizing those heterogeneous forces as
"bourgeois", "capitulationists," etc would objectively
result in allying ourselves with the forces from the
right that are now telling those workers and youth
that theirs is a lost cause and that they are causing
more harm than good.

We are striving for some victories against the
Democrats in order to create the necessary momentum to
push many more people on the road to political
independence from the bi-partisan regime.

Do you realize what would be the importance of a 5% of
the vote for Camejo under the present circumstances?
Simply put, the existence of bout HALF A MILLION
PEOPLE IN CALIFORNIA ALONE WITH WHOM WE CAN TALK ABOUT
POLITICS without having to start by the ABC of why
they should not rely in the imperialist Democratic
Party and patiently explain that what they did or will
do goes in the direction of working class and
socialist politics.

* Another aspect of our rationale is that the labor
unions and community organizations are so controlled
and manipulated by a leadership loyal to the
Democratic Party, that will take decisive blows from
the left against the Democratic Party, to break open
the doors to reform those organizations and achieve
their political independence.  We characterize that
socialists will achieve significant inroads in the
working class organizations, in this country, first by
achieving significant progress at the electoral level.

* Calling the GP a bourgeois party is not only a
sectarian and counter-revolutionary attack against the
most advanced movement towards political independence
of workers, students and youth, but it is also a
completely wrong-headed characterization from a
Marxist point of view.

* By its overwhelming social composition, program and
general direction, the Green Party is a radical, petty
bourgeois political formation.  It is evolving,
though, into reflecting more and more some layers of
the working class.  There is nothing written that the
GP could not evolve into a fully fledged left
organization based on workers and the oppressed.

* There is the risk the GP could evolve in the
European direction (to the right) but so far the US
Greens has resisted that road and even criticized,
publicly, the present orientation of the German Greens
for example.

What would be easier to the so-called "demo-greens" to
turn the party to the right than socialists abstaining
from intervening in the struggle to push them to the
left?  There is nothing fatalistic about the GP going
right nor anything certain they will go further to the
left.  But, the outcome of that struggle -- which is a
subjective one -- is entirely in our hands.

I would appeal to all members of this list to get
involved in the Green Party and push it in a left wing
direction. For if we succeed, the ocean in which
socialist ideas could swim will again be our
environment.

* One think many Marxists forget is that program is
not just the slogans one raises during electoral
campaigns or publish in our newspapers, but the
leadership and method we apply in the class struggle
(and the elections are in the US one of the most
important battlefields) and the objective direction we
inject in the social forces we lead.

>From that perspective, the most important and
fundamental part of the Green Party platform is,
objectively speaking: BREAK WITH THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY
AND THE BI-PARTISAN REGIME.

* Of course we would like Camejo and Gonzalez to talk
about other issues which are important to us.  But,
these are NOT propaganda campaigns to recruit few
members to our organization, but MASS CAMPAIGNS to
move significant layers of society to the left from
which and with which we can continue struggling on
other aspects of the class struggle.

* Who is stopping any socialist, like us, to raise all
kinds of issues throughout the campaigns if the
candidates do not?  So far, no one tried, except those
same forces who want Camejo to quit and Gonzalez not
to run.

* Are we recruiting?  You bet.  We doubled our number
of members in the last month ago.  But more
importantly, our periphery and contacts grew 20 times
in 30 days.  Many people we did not recruit are still
Democrats but willing to come to our forums, Marxist
classes and start a union rank and file group, for
example. Will some of them vote Democrat in this
election? Yes.  But they are already critical of the
Democrats, and open to work and discuss with Greens
and Marxists.  Is that an step further in their
consciousness or a retreat?  I think the answer is
obvious.

* How we win the confidence -- not of an isolated
dissident in the ranks of the Greens -- but of most
activists in the GP in order to approximate them to
Marxist ideas? Screaming at them from outside the
campaigns they are putting so much effort to build or
being the best builders of those campaigns at the same
time we raise all the questions and concerns we have?

* What is the difference between Camejo and Arianna?
Well, putting aside questions of personality, it is
the existence of a movement and a party behind and
besides Camejo and no accountability or movement
sustaining Arianna.  Camejo is stating intelligently
why he would understand if some people vote Democrat
but he did not quit, nor he stopped stating that the
central programmatic plank is breaking with the
Democratic Party.  Arianna just changed her mind and
quit, demoralizing hundreds of activists that took her
seriously.  Many of them are now approaching us and
the Green Party.

Hopefully, this will help in the discussion.

DA

PS: Eli: don't play the number game with me. There
were 3,000 people (counted!) in the SF demo and 200
supporters of Camejo-Gonzalez campaign (also counted),
most of them with signs.  We are famous in the left
for being scrupulous in our counting.





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