Sounds as if Solidarity has been infiltrated by market socialists borrowing
from within....:)
Cheers, Ken Hanly
----- Original Message -----
From: Justin Schwartz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Friday, July 13, 2001 6:06 PM
Subject: [PEN-L:15117] Re: Openness and Honesty in Left Politics
> Leo, we do have different ideas about left organizing. You think is
> appropriate to spread unsubstantiated, untrue, and potentially damaging
> rumors, and to call people who call you on it, in effect, liars who want
to
> run subterranean entrist campaigns in mass movements. It may be common
> knowledge that Solidaity is a soft Trotskyist organization, but like many
> things which are common knowledge it is not true. Soli came out of the
> Trotskyist movement, true. That was a long time ago. The formaton of
> Solidarity marked an abandonment of Trotskyism as a political strategy.
Soli
> does not hold up Trotsky as an icon; it does not teach his ideas, or those
> of Cannon or Schachtman, as the key to political organizing. It is not
Trot.
> The activists in Soli in Labor Notes and TDU, some of whom are long timers
> who came out of the original groups, are not Trots. As far as I know,
there
> are no Trots in Soli--well, maybe one. The overwhelming majority of the
> members have never been in any other left organization; and many who were,
> like me, have no Trot history. If you care to very, we have open meetings.
> Come and participate; hand out with the people, watch them work. You see
> see: no Trotskyism. Maybe instead of making insinuations and slurs, you
> could learn from people who know more than you about things you are
talking
> about. You should be ashamed of yourself.
>
> --jks
>
>
> >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >Subject: [PEN-L:15097] Openness and Honesty in Left Politics
> >Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2001 13:03:59 EDT
> >
> >Justin:
> >
> >I think that you and I have different views on how socialists and
radicals
> >of all stripes should participate in large mass movements. I think that
> >openness and honesty is essential, and that it is the failure to be open
> >and honest that leads to trouble, not "red baiting." "Red baiting" has
the
> >power it does only when it catches people in deception. In the context of
> >contemporary American politics, if someone's politics are of the sort
that
> >they have to hide them, then they need to change their politics, IMHO; we
> >are not exactly living in a police state.
> >
> >As for the TDU and _Labor Notes_, I said that the founders and leaders
> >were, "for the most part," Trotskyists. You say, that is wrong, and then
go
> >on to point out, in your view, which ones are Trotskyists and which ones
> >are not. You may have some difficulty showing how what you offer for
> >evidence is in any way inconsistent with what I said.
> >
> >As I see it, it is common knowledge among those who have participated in
> >and know the history and current structure of left politics and American
> >trade unionism that TDU and _Labor Notes_ were born out of the efforts of
> >key cadre in the International Socialists some twenty years ago, and that
> >the main players in that effort are now members of Solidarity. It is also
> >common knowledge that Solidarity was created by the merger of various
> >remnants of the Trotskyist movement, and that while it does not require
> >adherence to Trotskyism from its members, it is a soft 'Trotskyist'
> >organization. This is really not any different than the knowledge that
the
> >Reuther leadership of the UAW came out of the Socialist Party and
defeated
> >a faction aligned with and led by the Communists, that the AFL-CIO's
> >international operations pre-Sweeney was run by a series of vociferous
> >anti-Communists who were Lovestonites [members of the 'right
> >opposition'/Bukharinites of the Communist Party] and Shachtm!
> >an!
> >ites ['Third Camp' Trotskyists],
> > and so on. Pretending that this is not true, in the name of avoiding
'red
> >baiting,' is, in my view, engaging in the type of deception which has
> >haunted the work of the left in the American trade union movement.
> >
> >This was a lesson I learned very quickly on in my participation on the
> >American left. As a working class teenager from Queens who opposed the
war
> >in Vietnam, I invited a representative from the Student Mobilization
> >Committee Against the War to speak at my high school. At the meeting,
> >someone accused the SMC of being a front group for the Socialist Workers
> >Party and Young Socialist Alliance. The speaker adamantly denied that
this
> >was the case, and then told me after the meeting that although he was a
> >member of YSA, they were under instructions not to admit such matters. As
> >soon as anyone raised the question, cry 'red baiting.' Is it any wonder
> >that an organization which worked in that way lacked all credibility?
> >
> >Leo Casey
> >
>
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