. From: Yoshie F. Marxists have written a lot about the capitalist state, but they have written comparatively very little about the revolutionary socialist state in transition from capitalism to communism. There are some lovely images, e.g., Marx and Engels on the Paris Commune as the dictatorship of the proletariat, Lenin's pamphlet on the future of a communist state in The State and Revolution, etc., but very little on the revolutionary socialist state as a functioning modern state, much less (if anything at all) on civil liberty in particular and liberty in general under such a state. This just seems to me to be a big hole in Marxist thinking.
^^^^^^ CB: No doubt Marxists should do criticism/self-criticism on this as on anything. Continuous improvement ! However, there is Marxist writing and thinking on these topics post-Lenin. Fidel Castro and other Cuban Marxists might be a good place to start, since Marxists tend to write based on practice, rather than utopian cookbooks for the future. Utopian or not, the CPUSA has had the idea of "Bill of Rights Socialism" for the U.S. for fifteen years or so. Of course, much of the intellectual Marxist/Left likes to act like the CPUSA can't think ( or can't think as well as them), so such Marxist discussions of civil rights and liberties are invisible to many U.S. Leftists. (See below) A main problem is that all actually existing ,"modern" socialist states have been under the gun from imperialism big time before and during the Cold War. This has placed an enormous limitation on demilitarizing socialist states and societies. Thus, masses in socialism have lived "under" socialism all too literally. It has also undermined the ability to provide materially for the population. Freedom from material want is a main aim for unique "general liberty" "under" socialism as the Marxist writers and thinkers on socialist liberty say. It is not so much that Marxists have lacked a theory of liberty and civil rights and liberties , but that the enormous wars and threats of wars, blockades etc. of imperialism have thwarted the fulfillment of Marxist ideals for liberty and freedom, including preservation of many of the liberal/bourgeois liberties and freedoms in socialism. Anyway, a main _theoretical_ discussion of Marxist thinkers is the affirmative freedom or enabling freedom that comes with assurance of a livelihood and fulfillment of material needs. This is contrasted with freedoms from interference by the state -negative freedom. Theoretically, Socialism adds more affirmative freedom to "negative" freedom. See Herbert Aptheker's _The Nature of Democracy, Freedom and Revolution_ for extensive Marxist discussion of civil liberty and liberty in general, including in socialism. See also, my "For a Constitutional Amendment for a Right to a Livelihood". ^^^^^^ http://www.pww.org/archives96/96-01-20-3.html US History points to 'Bill of Rights Socialism' by Emil Shaw This article was reprinted from the January 20, 1996 issue of the People's Weekly World.. "Bill of Rights Socialism" refers to the concept of a socialism that grows out of a defense and extension of the popular rights referred to in the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution: the rights to free speech, free press, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, trial by jury, the right not to bear witness against oneself in a criminal case, freedom from unreasonable search and seizure of one's possessions. It also conveys the idea that we will incorporate U.S. traditions into the structure of socialism that the working class will create. The U.S. Constitution in 1787, against the fierce opposition of the farmers and working people of that time, was put into place, at a secret convention of the Continental Congress by the ruling class (bankers and large merchants) to establish firmer control over the people and to be able to continue to maintain a hold over the lands taken from the Indians and to continue the robbery of future lands from the Indians. It was not until 1791, in response to the continued struggle of the people, against this banker-imposed tyranny, that the first 10 amendments, The Bill of Rights, was attached to the Constitution. Within the last 130 years, this class struggle, in various forms, has resulted in the further extension of popular rights in the Constitution : freedom from slavery (13,14, 15th amendments - 1865, 1868, 1870); the right of women to vote (19th -1920); anti-poll tax amendment (24th-1964); lowering the voting age to 18 (26th - 1971). At each stage of the struggle there have been people who were of the opinion that the Constitution was so oppressive that the best thing would be to have it abolished or re- written. However, the vast majority adopted the method of using the Constitution as a means of improving it. One of the clearest examples of this difference was the debate between Frederick Douglas and William Lloyd Garrison between 1840 and 1850, on the question of the Constitution and slavery. Garrison took the position that the Constitution, having been written by slaveholders for the purpose of continuing slavery, should be abolished. Douglas felt that there were sufficient parts of the Constitution that would make it possible to change it and thereby end slavery. As it turned out, it took four years of a brutal civil war to defeat the slaveholders. It was not until the war was over that the 13th,14th and 15th amendments were adopted. The working people of this country have always had to fight for their rights against the constant attempts of the owners of the means of production, the large corporations, banks and large agribusiness, who have been constantly attempting to curtail these rights for the purpose of greater exploitation of the working people. The clearest example of this today is the fight against the Newt Gingrich politicians who wish to destroy the workers rights won under the New Deal. What has not been won yet is the right to a job at union wages; the right to strike; no police brutality; universal health care for all; affirmative action; correction of the historic wrongs committed by the capitalist state against the Indian peoples; universal child care; low cost housing; end to environmental racism; plus many more too numerous to mention. As Marx, Engels and Lenin have repeatedly pointed out, workers must not only have political rights but also economic and social rights in order to improve their conditions and in order for these rights to be fully appreciated. In this, then, one can see the broad outlines of a U.S.-type of socialism. Scientifically socialism, in each country, grows out of the need to undo the inequities caused by the fact that goods are manufactured in a social and collective manner (by the working class) but are privately appropriated (by the capitalists). In the drive for super-profits the capitalist system results in unemployment and layoffs, downsizing, hunger, joblessness, speed-ups, racism, environmental racism, homelessness and out- and-out genocide. As a result, a class struggle ensues between the workers and their allies on the one hand and the capitalists on the other hand. On the one hand a struggle to improve their existence and on the other to maximize their profits. Since the capitalists are always out to maximize their profits, the exploitation of the working class both at their place of work and in the communities will increase. The problems of the capitalist system will become sharper until such time as the working class and its allies will unite and remove the capitalist class from power, take over the means of production and through a democratically run state operate the means of production for the benefit of everyone and not for the sake of super-profits for the few. This process of uniting the working class and its allies can only come about through a constant day to day struggle to improve the lives of people today and to struggle against all forms of racism and not to wait until the advent of socialism. This many-sided class struggle at first takes on an economic and social character, but soon moves into the political arena. The ultimate results of this political struggle can only be the creation of a genuine labor/people's party that through political means will attempt to achieve the improvement of the economic and social lives of the U.S. people. The end result of this struggle will be when the workers' and people's rights are achieved in practice by the establishment of socialism and then added as amendments to the U.S. Constitution at the same time as the advantages of the capitalist class are removed from the Constitution. (The following article was submitted as part of the Communist Party USA preconvention discussion prior to its 26th National Convention March 1-3 in Cleveland. We welcome all contributions to preconvention discussion from our readers.) ^^^^^^ ------------------------Shaw - Bill of rights socialism"Bill of Rights Socialism" refers to the concept of a socialism that grows out of a defense and extension of the popular rights referred to in the first 10 ... www.pww.org/archives96/96-01-20-3.html - 8k - Cached - Similar pages Gus Hall, National Chair, Communist Party USA, The American way to ...That's why we call ours "Bill of Rights Socialism USA." Socialism is our vision for America's future. 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Some will suggest FDR's ideas reeked of socialism. ... www.amazon.com/Second-Bill-Rights-Unfinished-Revolution/dp/0465083323 - 144k - Cached - Similar pages Green Left - Socialist backs call for bill of rightsSocialist backs call for bill of rights. 17 November 1993. James Crafti, Melbourne. Zoe Kenny, Socialist Alliance candidate for the federal Seat of ... www.greenleft.org.au/2004/593/31994 - 15k - Cached - Similar pages The Liberty Papers > The Bill Of Rightsof socialism. You know, Marxist, Fabian, Hegelian, and all that kind of ... It also The new bill also requires the Bill of Rights and Declaration of ... www.thelibertypapers.org/categories/individual-rights/the-bill-of-rights/ - 174k - Jan 2, 2007 - Cached - Similar pages Platform: Oregon Socialist, Bill of RightsBill of Rights section in the SPO platform from circa 2001. www.thesocialistparty.org/spo/archive/platform/2001/civil_rights.htm - 3k - Cached - Similar pages --------------------------------------------------------
