Re: [Marxism] The SWP was Wrong about the Peace and Freedom Party, and Socialist Viewpoint ...

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

Bonnie Weinstein wrote:
> The essence of communism is majority rule.

It just dawned on me why I hate hearing this sort of thing. Back in 
1978, when I was in my last few months in the SWP, I used to sit in 
branch meetings and listen to fellow party members get up during 
preconvention discussion or plenum reports and say things like: "The 
working class is the only class with the power to transform society" or 
"Capitalism is a system that will force working people to take action 
against the bosses." Why at the age of 33 was I being forced to attend a 
new members class?

Bonnie, no matter what Eli Stephens says, I find this kind of abc's of 
socialism to be totally presumptuous. You really should study your posts 
before submitting them to the list to make sure that all this kind of 
obvious stuff is weeded out.

There are people on this list who have spent decades in the 
revolutionary movement. They really don't need to hear that the essence 
of communism is majority rule or that the workplace is not a democratic 
environment.

And here is the all-important reason.

By stating the obvious, you are conveying the impression that you know 
something that we don't--or worse that we understand it and willfully 
act otherwise. The clear implication is that you are doing missionary 
work among lost souls, a most obnoxious stance to say the least.

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