Moving Beyond The Religion of Trotskyism

''ALL I KNOW IS THAT I AM NOT A MARXIST'' - Karl Marx

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'' Neither of us cares a straw for popularity. A proof of this is for example, that, because of aversion to any personality cult, I have never permitted the numerous expressions of appreciation from various countries with which I was pestered during the existence of the International to reach the realm of publicity, and have never answered them, except occasionally by a rebuke. When Engels and I first joined the secret Communist Society we made it a condition that everything tending to encourage superstitious belief in authority was to be removed from the statutes." - KARL MARX

("Against Personality Cults," from a November 10, 1877 letter to W. Blos)

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1. As a precursor to the emergence of Libertarian/Democratic Socialism from below, I am interested in building and organising anti-capitalist SOCIAL MOVEMENTS; and NOT ''socialist parties'' or ''anarchist networks''. My focus and priority as an anti-capitalist who wants to destroy capitalism is in process dynamics and not institutional construction. ''The paper'' is to the neo-Trotskyist what the ikon is to the Orthodox Catholic. In the same manner that the ikon serves as imaginary intemediary between feligresi and ''creator'' (sic.); the neo-Trotskyist newspaper serves as intermediator between the cadre and ''the massess'' (sic.)

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2. Trotskyism is a secular religion of the Left. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels are famous for having considered that the criticism of religion is the precondition for all criticism as it concerns political-economy and social questions. In our days this critical approach must be applied to the various secular Leftist cults: The Cult of Trotsky, The Cult of Che, The Cult of Mao and the Cult of Joe Hill. The anti-capitalist movement must work to extirpate these cults from the movement in order to prevent them from derrailing it in its advance.

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3. Because I choose out of free will to agree with the subjective premise that Libertarian/ Democratic Socialism would be the rule of virtue (assuming the neo-Platonic premise that Justice is the Rule of Virtue and subsequently that Socialism is that ''Virtue'' that equals ''Justice''); I am interested in promoting the ideal of Libertarian/Democratic Socialism as a positive solution and logical alternative to the system of applied injustice that is capitalism. I am not interested in the sale of partisan newspapers or of branded propaganda materials as raison d'etre. A consistent anti-capitalist cannot be a salesman; rather he or she should be, fundamentally, a persuader. As socialism should not be for sale: I do not wish to participate in the process of commercialisation of socialist ideas. I rather be one of those who gives away the paper and the buttons and the litterature. I am one of those who would encourage the interested to ''STEAL THIS BOOK''.

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4. The true measurement of ''success'' for an anti-capitalist activist and proponent of Libertarian /Democratic Socialism (acting in context of actually existing social movements), is how effective they might be at persuading others to join the social movement in question and beyond that convincing them in context of the said movilisation that Libertarian/Democratic Socialism is the solution to the depredations of neo-liberal capitalism in our times. It is NOT about how effective they might be at selling''Anarchist'' or ''Socialist'' merchandise or related branded paraphernalia on the market. Monetarist accounting is not what makes a socialist. My priority focus as an anti-capitalist activist is (1) on the promotion of Libertarian/Democratic Socialist ideas as a solution and (2) on contributing to the organisation and growth of contrarian social movements. Always with a bias towards the economic and the political of course (because ''there'' is where the money and the power are concentrated); but never really dismissing the potential that might exist on the ''cultural'' aspects of the social. And yes, I am clear that ''the cultural'' is socially constructed.

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5. As a whole, Trotskyism has failed in the historical field. There was never a ''political revolution'' in the Eastern Bloc. There never has been a ''permanent revolution'' in the neo-colonial world. The ''Transitional Program'' never broke the workers from the social democratic farse in the developed western countries. Keep in mind that Trotskyists have been reformulating THE SAME THEORIES over and over again since the 1930's with no tangible results.

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6. There are no ''socialist parties'' or ''anarchist networks''; only very small groups (of committed people no doubt), who think to themselves and tell each other that they are. The only ''real socialists'' are those who practise socialism, and to be a ''real socialist'' one must first be an anti-capitalist. I am interested in the formulation of a new political syntesis, a new praxis. One that might involve the insights of Marx when applicable - and yes maybe even those of Trotsky, other dissident Marxists like Rosa Luxembourg and Andres Nin and the anarcho-syndicalists. But fundamentally, an anti-capitalist synthesis that proposes what is understood to be ''Libertarian/Democratic Socialism'' and that presents itself to a contemporary post-modern public with a brand new language and a psychology of conceptualisations rooted in current events, struggles and conditions. Not a recapitulation of outdated interpretations of Marx, not a cosmetically refinished representation of the postulates of Trotsky, Che or Anarco-Syndicalism. Rather, a brand new synthesis for our times.

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Anyone who states that only they or their party or thir network is ''right'' is WRONG. Anyone who claims full knowledge of absolute truth is a LIAR. As I begun, I end with another important quote from Marx: ''Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people." - Karl Marx ''Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right'' (1843) .

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Semper Indomitus !

p.s. I do not know the whole truth - no one does. I do not claim to be ''right'' - I am willing to admit (along with Marx) that I might not be. Ask your favorite ''Trotskyist'' or ''Anarcho-Syndicalist'' ideologue to do the same... see where that gets you.

S.I.

( http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/08/26/18300693.php)

How Socialism will Liberate Lesbian Womyn

According to socialist Friedrich Engel's, the function of the patriarchal nuclear family under capitalism is to ensure the reproduction of male property inheritors and to force women to provide those social services (such as childcare), that capitalism refuses to pay for. A socialist perspective on patriarchy and homophobia must proceed from a critique of the nuclear family as a capitalist institution. The homophobic ideology of ''family values'' that conservatives defend - a false consciousness - exists to legitimise the capitalist patriarchy. The Lesbian Woman is hated by the social conservative because She represents the living negation of the capitalist patriarchy. She refuses to reproduce and she refuses to be shackled by compulsory heterosexuality.

Socialism will not abolish the family per se, rather it will eliminate the socio-economic foundations of the capitalist patriarchy and the homophobia it requires to exist. Socialism will abolish the social conditions that engender homophobia by eliminating the social requirement to only engage in heterosexual relationships. In a socialist society all persons will be free to pursue the sexual and emotive relations of their choice with whom they prefer regardless of gender. In fact, codified gender roles will be transcended. Socialism will allow for the eradication of homophobia in schools, public services, and workplaces through educational campaigns; equal access; equal pay for equal work; and the strict enforcement of equality and non-discrimination rules.

Socialism will guarantee free abortion on demand to all women and provide free access to health care services specific to the needs of Lesbian Women and Transgendered persons. Childcare will be socialised, thereby freeing women to pursue educational opportunities of their choice (free of charge) and subsequently enter the workforce in any area of their choice. A democratically planned socialist economy, will remove economic need as a motive for entering emotive and sexual relations. The socio-economic basis for prostitution will be removed. No longer will working class women and boys be compelled to sell their sex to men as a commodity in the market. Under socialism human sexuality will be decommodified.


Semper Indomitus !


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Upsurge of Struggle for LGBT Democratic Rights in Eastern Europe -by Miguel Amanda. July 24, 2006.

On Saturday July 22nd, the LGBT community in Riga, Latvia held a demonstration in favor of democratic rights in defiance of the city authorities. The government of the city of Riga had acted on July 19th to effectively ban a LGBT pride march scheduled for that day. The authorities cited “threats of terrorist attacks” as the reason for banning the march and further characterized the event as “the biggest security risk” faced by Latvia after winning independence from the Soviet Union. The request to stage the pride event had been made by Mozanka, the Latvian LGBT association. "We are shocked by the city council's decision, which we view as not only an unacceptable restriction of the freedom of assembly, but a major blow to democracy", said Mozanka board member Linda Freimane. The July 22nd demonstration was attended by activists and parliamentarians from Sweden, Germany and the UK. Although there was no overt repression on the part of the police, they where criticized for taking a passive stance while LGBT demonstrators where attacked by social-conservative and neo-Nazi counter demonstrators. One attending Swedish parliamentarian was injured in the altercations that took place. The ban and the negligence of the police were denounced by a number of international Human Rights NGOs; notably Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. This prompted Latvian president Vike-Freiberga to state that the refusal by the city of Riga to authorize the pride parade was “unacceptable in a democratic country”.

The attempt by the Riga authorities to undermine the democratic rights of LGBT communities in the city came after a series of advances made by the LGBT communities in Russia and Poland over the past few months.

On March 2 solidarity demonstrations where held in front of Russian embassies and consulates in West European capitals denouncing the ban of a planned Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender pride march in Moscow. The demonstrations where called by IDAHO (International Day against Homophobia), a Human Rights NGO based in Paris. This development points to an upsurge of awareness among those in the West concerned with the negative situation that GLBT peoples face in ’’post-soviet’’ Eastern Europe and Russia.

The support expressed by supporters of the LGBT community outside Russia inspired the Rainbow Community in Moscow to hold two spontaneous pride demonstrations in favor of democratic rights for free assembly and freedom of speech on May 27th. The demonstrations were met with repression from police and from groups of counter-demonstrators including neo-Nazi skinheads, Muslim clerics and faithful of the Orthodox Church. The Courts upheld the Moscow government ban on the gay pride demonstrations despite the fact that the Russian Constitution guarantees freedom of speech and assembly; and despite the fact that a criminal complaint was filed by Moscow pride organisers against religious clerics ’’for inciting hatred towards a social group’’, which is prohibited by Article 282 of the Criminal Code of Russia. May 27th represents the national ’’comming out’’ of the LGBT community in Russia. Some have called it “the Russian Stonewall” .Gay Pride organisers in Moscow are planning to hold another march in the spring of 2007 despite the threat of a ban.

The movement for LGBT equality and human rights in Russia has inspired a similar upsurge of struggle in Poland. Despite a ban by the Warsaw city government; approximately 2,500 LGBT campaigners and supporters from Western Europe marched on the city in June.

The Warsaw Equality March was a success. Demonstrators carried placards reading: “The World is Watching” as representatives of the European media marched along to record the proceedings.

Although the police conducted a tight security operation there where no reports of violent incidents. Groups of skinheads associated with the youth wing of the “League for Polish Families” – a Roman Catholic political group – delivered verbal abuse upon the pride demonstrators but where prevented from engaging in physical violence by the police. It is a sign of cultural progress, in Roman Catholic dominated Poland, that the LGBT community can exercise its rights to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.

According to Igor Yasin a member of Socialist Resistance (the CWI in the country); ’’Our task as socialists is to show that only by fighting capitalism and its state machine together with all the poisonous prejudices that come out of capitalism and by building a new society based on freedom and equality - a socialist society - can [the question of LGBT rights] be tackled once and for all.’’

There can be no socialism without LGBT freedom. There can be no LGBT freedom without socialism.

** An edited Swedish-language version of this article was published in July of 2006 in the Socialist newspaper ''Offensiv'' press organ of the Justice Socialist Party of Sweden; Swedish section of the Commite for a Workers International. The author is not a member of this organisation. The views expressed inthis blog are not necessarily those of CWI or the Justice Socialist Party of Sweden and vice-versa.