[Marxism] Re Understanding the DSP split

[Peter Boyle <peterb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear Louis

Are you arguing that the DSP should abandon "revolutionary factionalism" 
and re-organise itself as an all-inclusive socialist group?

But the six comrades who recently resigned from the DSP and formed the 
MSN (and this was totally unnecessary) accuse the DSP majority of 
"liquidationism" because it continues to build the Socialist Alliance, 
an all-inclusive socialist party, as does an organised opposition 
faction in the DSP. Please note the extensive and uncensored 
pre-congress and post-congress discussion in the DSP, an unprecendented 
volume of discussion bulletins, a minority of less than 20% of the 
membership has been given the right to give counter-reports on 
leadership bodies when they've been requested, open criticism of the DSP 
facilitated and welcomed on the Green Left discussion list, no 
disciplinary action against any minorities.

I agree with Cannon that "factional struggle is part of the process of 
building the revolutionary party of the masses; not the whole of the 
struggle, but part of it." Socialists who think that socialism is just 
factional struggle become sectarian gas bags.

Trotsky said: "“The entire history of Bolshevism was one of the free 
struggle of tendencies and factions." But that being obvious, it is no 
excuse for socialists today to make a silly subculture based on 
parodying Bolshevik history with overblown internal factional struggles 
and over-the-top attempts at imposing internal discipline in small 
socialist groups. Alas the relative isolation of the socialist movement 
in all imperialist countries today means that this craziness will be a 
chronic tendency in our movement. The job of serious socialists is to 
resist this tendency.

This includes the tendency for many self-styled "Leninists" to forget 
what Lenin himself said about the political basis of the renowned 
discipline of the Bolsheviks, that it was built upon:

1. “the class-consciousness of the proletarian vanguard and by its 
devotion to the revolution, by its tenacity, self-sacrifice and heroism.”
2. “by its ability to link up, maintain the closest contact, and—if you 
wish—merge, in certain measure, with the broadest masses of the working 
people—primarily with the proletariat, but also with the non-proletarian 
masses of working people.”
3. “by the correctness of the political leadership exercised by this 
vanguard, by the correctness of its political strategy and tactics, 
provided the broad masses have seen, from their own experience, that 
they are correct.”

The DSP is a small group trying its best to engage with broader forces 
in struggle. Of the organised left in Australia it is indisputable more 
connected to actual struggles. Yesterday, for instance, about 300,000 
workers attended rallies around the country against new anti-worker 
legislation. Three DSP members were the official platforms in Adelaide, 
Geelong and Lismore. But we played a bigger role helping get these 
actions to happen, working with other militant unionists against far 
more powerful conservative union bureaucrats. No other left group can 
say they did the same. Modest, I readily admit, but we are trying to do 
more than factionalise against others on the left.

Peter Boyle




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