I’m sure that I’m not the only one that feels this way, but what the labour movement is lacking most at this time, is an international. It has been decades since a true workers international has existed: there was the First international, the Second international, the Third (arguabley the golden era of communism), and that was all.
Some may say ” what about the Trotskyist fourth international ?”. I reply , “what about it?”
The fourth international is anything but. Rather than fostering unity of workers organizations and leading the working class to victory, the fourth international has produced nothing but steaming mounds of ivory-tower analysis, and a thousand different splinter groups. I take offense that the mantle of the International has been appropriated by what basically amounts to a political clique. The fourth international is not an international at all; It is an exclusive club for Trotskyists and Trotskyist organizations, nothing more.
So what is the true internationalist organization of the workers? If not the fourth international, what organization do the workers of the world have to uphold the banner of Marxism-Leninism and international socialism?
Perhaps, the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement (RIM)? Hardly.
The Revolutionary Internationalist Movement deserves credit, in that they have mobilized the working class in many nations, such as Nepal, India, Peru, etc. On the other hand, the RIM also is a political clique, especially in the western world. Membership in RIM, as far as I know, revolves around being a follower of Mao Tse-Tung thought/ Maoism. Rather than trying to unite the loose threads of Marxism-Leninism and focus the power of the working class, RIM continues to divide the movement, as their clique excludes flavours of Marxism-Leninism that do not exhalt Mao.
The Maoist Internationalist Movement (MIM) is no better in this respect, even shunning the other Maoists of the RIM, accusing them of being CIA related.
The Anarcho-Syndicalist International Workers of the World (IWW, often called “Wobblies”) also entertain notions of being the workers organization, especially as they aspire to one united Union. The obvious flaws of Anarcho-syndicalism aside, the IWW does not live up to such lofty standards either, even their own slogans of “Call a general strike” and “One big Union.”. The workers, from factory to field, have by overwhelming majority never heard of the IWW (which is quite common with most organizations that dub themselves “workers organizations”). The make-up of the IWW is not workers and labourers, but mostly Anarcho-syndicalist students. As with all previously mentioned organizations, the IWW is also a political clique, out of touch with the working class, and floating among the left-wing community.
There are very few workers organizations that exist these days ; Most of what exists these days are political cliques and personality cults. Many “Workers Parties” these days exist only to put flowers on the graves of their founders, rather than to try and mobilize the working class towards proletarian revolution. Any organizations that survived the cold war (or have sprung up since then,), which still entertain ideas of the victory of socialism, sell themselves short by dividing into camps and removing themselves from both the realities of the working class and from the theory of Marxism-Leninism.
It is discouraging that in this time, when capitalism is floundering in all of it’s imperialist endeavours, when it is desperately clawing at all deposits of resources and hissing at all nations with some form of workers control/national sovereignty, trying to escape it’s imminent demise… At this time, there is no rejoicing from the workers parties. Capitalism is failing astronomically, there is a general air of anti-imperialist sentiment and dis-illusion with the system among the masses, and yet there is no celebration among Marxist-Leninists. On the contrary, we are in no position to celebrate. The self-destructive cliquing and isolationism of the workers parties and organizations, not to mention the splintering and outright capitulationism of many of these organizations, has left our movement in a sad state. Unfortunately, it seems to be the Liberal and Social-Democratic parties that are poised to pick up the pieces from the fallout of world capitalism, not the Marxist-Leninist workers parties. Of course, this is a situation that could be remedied, but that depends on the unity and active state of the communist workers movement.
We, the labour movement and Marxist-Leninist parties are a sword; the problem is, we have been shattered into too many pieces to be wielded against any foe. We must reforge this sword. We must re-establish the international of workers parties, based on he foundations of Marxism-Leninism.
Posted by ravenblade 