Re: [Pen-l] The fight in the SWP part 3 (Chris Harman)

["Matthijs Krul" <mccaine@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Louis Proyect" <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>
To: "PEN-L list" <PEN-L@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, December 22, 2008 9:16 PM
Subject: [Pen-l] The fight in the SWP part 3 (Chris Harman)



> The leadership of these self-declared vanguards is based on the notion of 
> “revolutionary continuity”, a term that was bandied about incessantly in 
> the American SWP. Basically, it is closely related to the notion that the 
> current leader or leaders of the “vanguard” grouping are descendants of 
> Marx-not genetically but programmatically. You also have a preoccupation 
> with “grooming”. For example, much was made in the American SWP about how 
> Jack Barnes was “groomed” by Farrell Dobbs, who was in turn groomed by 
> James P. Cannon, who was in turn groomed by Leon Trotsky. Instead of a 
> race horse getting brushed down, you have a profound thinker at party 
> headquarters channeling the essence of Marx-thought. When you decide to 
> write a sharply critical article for a convention, your fear is not that 
> you will be expelled but shunned because you had the temerity to question 
> the disciple of Karl Marx.

Haha, that is quite precious. Do these comrades explain how this is 
different from the idea of 'apostolic succession'? This type stuff already 
confirms more and more the impression I get that Leninist parties are often 
organized more like religious sects than like political movements, 
especially when they have few supporters. This really takes the cake though.

Matthijs Krul 

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