In the thread entitled "Declaration: An Internationalist Position on the Fall of Assad and the Crisis in Syria", David Walters wrote:
>There really is no difference between Marxism-Leninism of the Trotskyist type >and that of the "Stalinist" type. All these groups generally, >due to their isolation, elevate tactical differences to one of principles, >and thus split. I agree that Trotskyism and Stalinism are flip sides of the same coin, and I have written extensively on this. This is an important issue, and although David Walters and I undoubtedly disagree on how we would explain this, and even in how we would refer to these trends, I think he has done a service in bringing it up. In 2014, I gave a summary of how I see this similarity between Trotskyism and Stalinism in the article "A new assessment of an old trend: Trotskyism as the equally evil twin of Stalinism" (see https://www.communistvoice.org/49cTwin.html). In this article, I deal with the theoretical bankruptcy of Trotskyism, which lies behind its inability to deal with new world developments, such as the changing face of world imperialism, the global wave of democratizations, and the environmental crisis. Earlier in 2009 I wrote a more extensive critique of Trotskyist theory in "An outline of Trotskyism's anti-Marxist theories: A four-part critique of the basic ideas of Trotskyism" (https://www.communistvoice.org/00TrotskyOutline.html (this in turn gives links to all four parts). No doubt David Walters and I disagree on what are the errors of "Marxism-Leninism of the Trotskyist type". He writes that the issue is that "All these groups generally...elevate tactical differences to one of principles..." But why do they do this? Walters says that this is "due to their isolation". But there are theoretical and political stands involved. The Trotskyist version of "permanent revolution", for example, negates the issue of the various phases that a struggle goes through, the different class natures of these phases, the different economic and political situations behind them, the different perspectives for them, and essentially makes everything into a transitional or preliminary stage of the ultimate struggle. With this standpoint, everything is naturally a tactical issue. With such a narrow and dogmatic viewpoint, there is no room for anything else! This is defended by the Trotskyist penchant for denouncing any talk of different "stages" as meaning that one accepts the Stalinist view of what to do in these stages, and hence is betrayal of the working class, or backing of the Western imperialists, or whatever. This was demonstrated during the Arab Spring, when various Trotskyist groups couldn't deal with the class and political nature of the Arab Spring, and of democratization struggles generally. This led to supporting the struggle in a country only so long as they could see it as the first days of a relatively imminent socialist revolution -- maybe one that would encompass the whole MENA (Middle East and North Africa)! When the events of the struggle showed that this wasn't going to happen, when they could no longer believe that socialist revolution was imminent, they might denounce the struggle as leading nowhere. And they would explain this by referring to their version of "permanent revolution". And they were right in at least one thing -- their stand really did follow from the Trotskyist version of "permanent revolution". This is discussed in "Against left-wing doubts about the democratic movement", Nov. 2011 (see https://www.communistvoice.org/46cLeftWingDoubts.html). It's not that everything these Trotskyist groups did was wrong (as was pointed out in "Against left-wing doubts"). But ultimately, they couldn't deal with what was actually happening in MENA. No doubt David Walters and I don't agree on this analysis of Trotskyism. But I do agree with his recognition of the similarity, despite their use of different slogans and catchphrases, of the Trotskyist and Stalinist versions of revolutionary theory. Finally, note that recognizing this does not mean or require taking a sectarian attitude to various Trotskyist or Stalinist comrades. To take some examples, one can recognize the value of the heroic struggle against racism waged by many CPUSA members in the late 1930s (and other times), while also being critical of the degeneration of the CPUSA towards liquidation at that time. And one can recognize the importance of the work of certain writers today against "the anti-imperialism of fools", an endeavor in which we also participate, while dealing with the shortcomings of their work due to adherence to "permanent revolution" or other Trotskyist views. In my view, dealing seriously with Trotskyism and Stalinism as erroneous trends is an act of true solidarity with activists who are in or influenced by these trends. If you check the writings above, you will not see cursing of activists, but a clarification of some political, theoretical, organizational, and historical issues. -- Joseph Green On 19 Dec 2024 at 8:19, David Walters via groups.io wrote: > > Hari, I think Mark did a good job of Trotskyist spotting some/most > of the Trotskyist > internationals out there. There are more not mentioned and I'm not > inclined to count all > of them as it is sort of an apolitical exercise. Always, almost, > these groups split for same > reasons your M-L groups have split into as many "internationals" > since the 1970s. There > really is no difference between Marxism-Leninism of the Trotskyist > type and that of the > "Stalinist" type. All these groups generally, due to their > isolation, elevate tactical > differences to one of principles, and thus split. > > The wiki entry is fairly accurate but misses a bunch as well. Many > are not "THE Fourth > International" claim but networks and associations of like minded > parties, just like in the > various "M-L" groupings. Feh, most of this is irrelevant to the > class struggle. > > David -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. 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