. THE YOUNG VANGUARD.
The Letter Is International Youth Day The Youth and the Brought to Light!
Elections action; LENIN AND THE YOUTH general.
As it Should Be As it is Now as a sort climax to culminate Tremendous demonstrations of youth, The slightest scratching of the surface The elections this year give the Comthe whole wretched ultra Left course and streaming out of factories and mines, off of the powerful potentdal force of young expose the bankruptcy of the Centrist bur the fields, out of the ranks of the armles tollers by a weak isolated, poorly edumunists an exceptionally good opportunity for rallying the working youth under their eaucracy in sharp relief there appears the to show their spirited, active hatred of cated, divided, misled. Young Communist latest letter from the Executive Committee banner.
League and International; passing unthe capitalist system and all it means to The growing willingness of the of the Young Communist International to the wage slaves of capitalism heard and unheeded by the millions of young workers to struggle, their greater participation in the struggles of the workthe Young Communist League of the Mighty assemblages to signify their young workers, who do not, and can not.
ing class, the increased economic pressure The letter is of deep import to every young desire to struggle against the slave syg understand the slogans and demands that on the young workers in the present econCommunist. There will be more than one tem. against long hours of automaton mo should inspire and electrify the youth into omic crisis (unemployment, further lowmember of the who after its pertione, low wages, prostitution, Child la determined action; because of the meering of wages, worsening of conditions of usaal will be jolted into seeing matters in a bor, hovels, the dope dispepsed by the thods used by the labor) serve as a substantial base for the new light. The letter, intended to placate dopesters of capitalism church, school the dissatisfaction of the membership What is to be Done growth of influence of the Communist and press; against the mental and physYonth the failures and steady decline of the and to make of the a scape ical degradation forced upon the workers Correct Leninist policy med at worid by the hunger system.
Communism: leadership in the everyday In participating in capitalist parliagoat for the opportunist line that emanates mentary elections Communists aim to eduParticularly, to fight against the struggles of the young workers, Marxist from the will act as a double edged cate the broad mass of workers, rally them bosses war, the struggle against which education, vigourous blade to the more serious and thoughtful anti war around the vital questions that affect them.
menter of the L, cutting into the very the First Sunday in September, sixteen abandoning the inane phrase flinging that organize them for the struggle against the roots of the situation.
years ago was dedicated by the small band marches cheek by fowl with opportunism; boss class and its state power, and for the Amateur and Skilled Suppressors of loyal, revolutionary, young Left so the acceptance into the full comradeship establishment of a revolutionary workers The letter was sent by the cialists as the Day of International of strugge of the Left Bolshevik Leninist government, the young Communists must on April 18, 1930, but the membership has Youth; to fight for the revolutionary fra Opposition within the Party anti the make special efforts to attract the young became aware of its existence only now ternization of the young masses in differ these will make future Internaworkers.
four months later. The Harveys, the Steuent uniforms.
tional Youth Days what they should be.
Winning the Young Workers bens, the Greens ard the other marionettes who go slavishly endeavored to impose the The task of winning the young workers Stalinist line on the League, have kept is organically connected with the problem It hidden from the eyes of the League. No of winning the entire working class. The doubt they felt the letter to be a piece of TRAINING THE YOUTH question as to how we may train the youth problems of the general working class are the basest ingratitude for their obedient in order that they may be able to com the problems of the young worker since services to Stalinism. To gain a proper The Tasks of the Young Communist League plete and perfecu what we have commenced. the latter are a section of the former, appraisal of these people, one need only (A speech delivered at the Third A1 should say that the first aid what However, the young workers as such have read sentences like the information which Russian Congress of the Russian Young would seem to be the most natura: reply certain different characteristics and therewe have at our disposal concerning the would be that the Young Communist League fore certain particular problems. Because present situation in the American League Communist League, October 4, 1920. and the youth as a whole who desire to go of its physical and intellectual immaturity.
and the recent plenum results are very over to Communism, should learn Commun the youth has special so called social needs scant. and we have not received a Comrades, would like today to talk ism.
and requirements. educational, cultural on the subject of the fundamental tasks copy of the Young Worker for months.
But to reply learn Communism is tog etc. These must be dealt with in the at.
The Lovestone group, which of course of the Young Communist League, and in What then do we need in order tempt to win over the youth for Communhas always been famed for upright and open connection with this, the form the youth to learn Communism? What must we select ism.
dealings with the is triumphantly organizations should take in a socialist out of the sum of total knowledge in order In the United States, as in all capitalcirculating the letter wholesale republic mong the to acquire the knowledge of Communism?
ist democracies, although the youth are members of the League. The League leadThe New Generation Wm Build Here a number of dangers rise up which drawn into industry at a low age, con ership has suppressed the letter, they cry Communism appear every time the task of learning pelled by economic necessity (and at perwith righteous indignation.
This question should be dealt with par. Communism is But in truth, presented incorrectly or fods by law) to join the military forces.
the Harvey, and Steubens are only the ticularly for the reason that, in a certa a when it is understood too one sidedly.
in a word are forced to take upon themclumsy pupils of the Herbergs and Zams, sense, one may say that it is the youth par Naturally, the first thing that enters selves the social responsibilities ot an one mind is that learning Communism who were much more refined, proficient ticularly which is confronted with the preadult, they are deprived of the right of and adept at this particular kind of manipusent task of constructing Communist 90 means to master the sum of knowledge that Tranchise. The millions of youth in this lation. These present crude imitators can ciety. 10 is clear that the generation of it contained in Communist text books, country between the ages of elghteen and workers brought up in capitalist society, pamphlets and larger works.
never hope to attain the high degree of Put such a twenty one who are barred from voting skill and the fine and intricate methods definition of the study of Communism at best can fulfil the task of destroying the of can be rallied around the slogan of: their predecessors. The present bunglers foundations of old capitalist conditions should be too crude and insufficient.
vote for every youth eighteen or more years merely suppress the document. Put their built up on exploitation. At best this genTheory and Practice; knowledge of age! The pretensions of bourgeois dem.
teachers when they received an embarrasseration can fulfil the task of creating such and Struggle ocracy can thereby more easily be exposed.
ing letter, first withheld it from the social conditions as would help the prolet11 studying Communism merely meant Even the socalists, the arch defenders of membership for a certain amount of time, ariat and the working classes to maintain the mastery of what is elucidated in Com capitalist democracy, have given support as long as this was feasible but no more.
power and lay a firm foundation upon which munist books and pamphlets, we could to this disenfranchisement of millions of Then they proclaimed their heartfelt cononly the generation commencing the work very easily get a number of Communists young workers and students.
viction of the correctness of the letter, lunder new conditiona, in circumstances who could glibly roll off Communist text Youth Omitted in Platform meanwhile conspiring, with Lovestone and where there are no relations of exploitation by heart. This would cause a considerable Pepper for the Polcom to appeal against between men, can build.
amount of harm, for these people, having The Communist Party in its current it. Oh, it was really most complicated, but The Task of the Youth is to acquire learned by rote what is written in Complatform does not even mention the position It was a genuine piece of Machiavellian Knowledge munist books and pamphlets would be totalof the working youth; It raises not even machination.
Hence, approaching the question of ly incapable of combining all this knowA single demand for the young workers!
The Estimate of the CL the tasks of the youth from this point of ledge and would not be able to act as The so called leadership of the official is too taken up with its Plan The letter chastises the League view, must say that the tasks of the Communism really demands.
Action. to occupy itself with such leadership severely. In particular it crit youth generally and of the Young Commun One of the greatest evils and misforicizes the Plenum held last January. ist Leagues and all other organizations trifles. Nevertheless, youth demands must tunes left us by the old capitalist society, The resolution adopted is condemned in no be issued; a special ust be made particularly, may be expressed in one senis the complete isolation of books from to reach the millions of toiling youth. The uncertain terms. We must frankly tell tence: the task is to acquire knowledge.
practical life. We had some books in you, the letter states, that of all the res Of course, this is just one sentence. which everything was presented in the best pivot point must be a contrast of the conolutions of League Plenums yours is one ditions of the youth under wage slavery and It does not reply to the principal and most form, but in the majority of cases, these those under a workers Soviet government.
of the worst. This is said despite the fact essential question what knowledge to ac books represented a repulsive hypocritical that the resolution was patterned almost quire and how to acquire it? And here lie which falsely described Communist soThe Left Opposition Youth, as part of entirely on the thesis of the last the whole thing is that with the transtorm clety. Therefore, the mere learning by the Communist League of America (Oppoplenum. See the militant, Feb. 1, 1930. ation of the old capitalist society, we cannot.
rote of what is written in books about sition) will participate in the ensuing elecOur own estimation of the reolution adopt the old forms of teaching, training Communism would be quite wrong.
tion campaign, and support the Communist has been strikingly confirmed.
and educating the new generation which In our speeches and writings of the Party. Members of the Communist Party lution adopted reveals the miserable situ will establish Communist society. Neverpresent time, we no longer repeat what was and Young Communist League should de.
ation in which the finds itsell buti theless, the teaching, training and educatsaid formerly about Communiem, because mand that those organziations accept our explaing nothing, and lays the basis for offers of cooperation in the elections.
ing of the youth must start with the materour speeches and writings are connected further decline. The Milltant, March 8, ial left us by Young Communists should insist on definite old society.
with everyday work in all its aspects.
1930. The responsibility lies with the We can build Communism only with Without work, without struggle, a book youth election demands. Young workers, Stalinist regime.
the aid of that sum of knowledge, the orCommunists knowledge of Communism gained from young students and young The letter criticizes a false estimate should rally around the demands of the ganizations and the institutions, with the Communiht pamphlets and books is worth of social reformism contained in the regl aid of the stock of human forces and re nothing, for it would merely continue the Left Opposition Youth: olution. This erroneous conception was sources which has been left us by the old former gap between theory and pactice, The right to vote for all youth 18 years formulated in the resolution as tol society. Only by radically reforming the the former gap which represented the most or over.
lows: The radicalization of the young methods of teaching, organizing and train repulsive features of the old bourgeois hour day, day week for all young workers takes away the base of the social Ing the youth shall we be able to guaran society.
workers.
reformists among the young workers and tee that the efforts of the young generation It would be still more dangerous, if we while social reformism remains the chief will result in the construction of a society commenced to acquire only conimunist The abolition of child labor under the ideological barrier, which we have to over unlike the old society, e. a Communist slogans. If we did not realize this danage of 16 with state maintenance for those come amongst the young worker, there cas society.
ger in time, and it we did not direct all at present employed.
be no real growth of reformist youth orWhat to Learn and How to Learn It ottr efforts to remove it, the half million The establishment of work schools for ranization: only disintegration proConsequently, we must deal with the or million boys and girls who after such young workers between the ages of 16 and viding the Young Communist League plays question as to how we should teach and a study of Communism would call them up inodelled on the present system in the its role. In criticism of this we said: It what we should teach the youth, in order selvex Communists would only bring con Soviet nion.
is false to say that radicalization takes that they may jutify their title of siderable harm to the cause of Communism. Two weeks vacation with pay for all (Continued on Page 7)
Communist youth; we must deal with te (To Be Continued)
young workers. JOESPH FRIEDMAN The reso