By: Anonymous

Anonymous
Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:13:54 +0000

In reply to Anarcho.

Asking, We Walk
Yes, If you’ve got a link to Trotsky’s early critique of Lenin I’d like to see it. Despite myself, whatever it is, I’m attracted to his writings, and even some of his arguments- yes, I know all the problems and severe issues there, I’ve read them on the AFAQ (which I must congratulate you on for how exhaustive the research is). But still, I thought the Transitional Program had some good ideas there, with some extremely democratic demands, and a coherent approach towards advancing the struggle. For example, when I read Wayne Price’s Three Approaches to a Revolutionary Program, I thought he had synthesised a revolutionary anarchist perspective with insights from Revolutionary Marxism, esp the Transitional Program- which is unsurprising, given Wayne’s background and his idea of himself as a Marxist-informed anarchist. I think that’s constructive- but anarchists outside the platformist/libertarian communist tendency (especially the most close minded of them all, the primitivists) would call Wayne something ridiculous like a ‘red fascist’ for incorporating those insights. I do agree that the SWP and similar organisations have a pretty weak critique of anarchism- the only time they’ve made any pertinent points was the recent stuff they published in the debate in International Socialism. Speaking of Jefferson, Emma Goldman often liked to reach back into American history and quote from figures like Jefferson, Lincoln, etc, to show some kind of link between mainstream American ideas of liberty and her idea of anarchism- I think that’s often a good approach to take to national figures, to extract from them what is worthwhile, while showing them up for their hypocrisy or failure to adhere to their own supposed values of liberty. And, speaking of revolutions- would you not say that key CNT leaders joining the bourgeois and Stalinist backed govenment in Spain, even in the horrific circumstances, was not ‘contextually reasonable’, with their actions both betraying the revolution and laying the path for the tank of fascism to roll over their skulls? Yes, the Spanish Revolution wasn’t destroyed by party dictatorship or state terror- but I would say that action probably had almost the same brutal consequences in terms of human life and liberty as anything the Bolsheviks did, and I don’t think we can just say Oops, it was just a mistake. I know many CNT members, Friends of Durruti, etc, were opposed to this action, but it happened nonetheless. And I would be the last person to put down the achievements of the CNT, which did so much, and I certainly wouldn’t be complaining if CNT-like mass formations were a strong presence in my country and around the world. Of course Bakunin made some pertinent criticisms of Marxism (though sometimes I think he went a little overboard because of personal rivalries with Marx) and that’s important to take on board. I’ve always been of the opinion that anarchists are the best critics of socialists, and socialists of anarchists- because of the fundamentally similar aspirations and goals. For example, anarchist criticisms of, say, the Bolsheviks ring true to me because they are also socialists, and saw that approach as fatally undermining the socialist revolution, as compared to conservative criticism, which is hostile to socialism altogether. I’d like to be able to find a copy of the program of the Left SR’s if possible- I hear there were pretty good on the agrarian question, and had some interesting proposals which would have deepened the revolution and extended self-determination and self-management in a socialist framework. Actually, I’d like to see anarchists organisations doing what the Ortho Trots over at the IMT have done recently with Marxist classics- that is, compile anarchists classics into a single book, not too big, not too small, and at a cheap price (6 pounds in this case, see their bookshop Wellred Online Bookshop ) Now really is the best time to be mass distributing that kind of radical literature. People have began to wake up to the fact that they are the 99%- we need to get these radical left ideas being discussed, debated, and taken seriously as an approach to resolve the systemic issues which confront us.