THE REVOLUTIONARY AGE Saturday, May 10, 1919 The Left Wing and the Revolution in expecting JIE distinguishing feature of the controversy in By Louis Fraina and practice (even refused to accept industrial unionthe Socialist Party between the Right Wing and ism as necessary in the immediate economic struggle. the Left Wing, between the moderates and the From The Nece York Communist No! It is miserable sophistry to affirm that the Left revolutionists, is that the Right Wing refuses to derelop and defend its real program. This is partly fear, It didn require a revolutionary crisis to make Lee Wing policy accords only with an actual revolution.
That is precisely what the moderates in Europe said.
partly camouflage, and partly sheer stupidity. voting for a Liberty Arch, on which is inscribed When the war broke, the inoderates (led by ScheideThe moderates have a program, and a consistent Murmansk as a glory of the American troops, a mann. Cunow, Plekhanov and Kautsky. declared that program. It consists of parliamentarism, of reforming betrayal of the international revolution in general, the Basel Manifesto had provent wrong Capitalism out of existence, of municipalization and and the Soviet Republic in particular.
an immediate revolution, that the masses had abandIt doesn require a revolutionary crisis to condemn oned Socialism, therefore they had to support an ingeois parliamentary state. Of the theory that the coming the policy of petty bourgenis reformism and compro perialistic war! Put the Basel Manifesto did not asof Socialism is the concern of all the classes. in short. Board of Aldermen.
ceould bring an economic and social crisis, and that sistent, while inconsistent with fundamental Socialism) And it doesn require an actual or immediate rer.
Socialism should tuse this crisis to hasten the coming is a policy of petit bourgeois liberal State Capital olutionary crisis to accept the Manifesto and rogram of rezolutionary action.
ism. But this policy broke down miserably under the of the Left Wing: but tiris acceptance is necessary for The moderates in Germany said it was absurd to test of the great crisis of Imperialism; it broke down the immediate struggle of the moment, and as a pre expect a revolution; and then they used all their power under the test of the proletarian revolution, and re paration of our forces for the revolutionary struggle to prevent a revolution. And when the proletarian vealed itself as fundamentally counter revolutionary. that is coming.
revolution loosed itself in action, the moderates acted But the moderates, essentially.
still cling to this re Let us discuss this problem more fully. It is neces consistently and ferociously against the revolutionary actionary policy, although they are compelled by cir sary to completely expose the miserable arguments of proletariat.
it with cheap the Right.
In Russia, the moderates said a proletarian revolutalk about being left wing and a shift to the left tion was impossible; but when it came, they acted in the international movement, compelled to wait until practice are mass action and proletariah dictatorship against the revolution.
That is the attitude of the moderate Socialists nary policy. So the moderates refuse to discuss during and after the Revolution. The immediate moFrom these concepts flow three sets of tactics: before, everywhere, who are riveted with chains of iron to the fundamentals of the Left Wing Manifesto and ment in the social struggle may compel a different the bourgeois parliamentary state, who ar absorbed Program: they refuse to oppose their real policy to emphasis; but the tactics are a unity, adaptable to the bourgeois reformism and the gradual our s: they dare not.
particular requirements of the social penetration of Socialism into Capitalism.
struggle.
Their Accordingly, the Right Wing indulges either in vitVass action implies the end of the exclusive concenarguments may appear plausible, until the test of the uiperation of our revolutionary comrades, in threats of proletarian revolution reveals them as sophistry. Lee expulsion (guardians of the unity of the Party. or tration on parliamentary tactics. It implies awakenin sophistry ing the industrial proletariat to action, the bringing of arguments and policy are characteristic of the Scheidemanns, the Hendersons and the Vanderveldes.
Characteristic of this sophistry was Algernon Lee accomplish our purposes. It means shifting the centre Imperialism, roughly, appeared letter in the Call of April 2nd. Lee implies that the of our activity from the parliaments to the shops in 1900; and with developed the revolt against parliamentits appearance acceptance of the Left Wing policy depends upon an the streets, making our parliamentary activity simply Mass Action, Bolshevism, the Left Wing. Imperialary Socialism. Syndicalism. Industrial Unionism, actual revolutionary crisis, and says: a phase of mass action, until the actual revolution Have we reason to expect a revolutionary crisis in this compels us completely to abandon parliamentarism. duced the Social Revolutionary epoch. But the domcountry in the proximate future. aside from the possibil Mass action has its phases. It isn necessary to have inant moderate Socialism did not adapt its practice to ity of such a crisis heing voluntarily precipitated by one clement or another? In such a crisis, if it should be prean actual revolution in order to use mass action, the new requirements; and it broke down miserably cipitated (no matter by whom) would the majority of the before the final form of mass action we may use its under the test of the war and of the proletarian revpeople probably be actively with us or against us? Or would the majority remain neutral and inert, ready to accept preliminary forms, in which however, the final form olution.
the outcome of the combat between a revolutionary minis potential. Take, for example, our class war priserity and a reactionary minority? In this latter case. oners. It is The war was the expression of the economic connecessary to compel their liberation. The taking into account only the supposed active minority: Wing depends upon appeals to the Government tradictions of Capitalism, of the insoluble problems which of them would probably win in a decisive struggle down; that the proletarian revolution is conditions at this time? On the hasis of our answers to these lic questions, have we reason to seek or welcome a hastenopinion, upon co operation with bourgeois and essentially reactionary organizations in Amnesty.
Capitalism cannot adjust itself to the new conventions. upon everything These are fundamental questions. Upon the answers cannot solve its enormous economic aggressive mass problems.
effort of the proletariat. The Left Wing proposes a world of Capitalism we give to them must rest our decision on detailed in a revolutionary crisis. more acute in Europe, less mass political strike to compel the liberation of our problems of inethods and tactics. They are unescapable the United States, but in imprisoned comrades, to bring proletarian pressure still a crisis. This crisis, which is a consequence of It is important to understand the immediate mo upon the Government. Get the workers to down tools the economic collapse of Capitalism, provides the ment in the great social struggle as a basis for action, in the shops, march to other shops to pull out the opportunity for Socialism to marshall the iron battabut Lee uses it to make arguments against action. workers there. get out in the streets in mass demonlions of the proletariat for action and the conquest of The policy of the Left Wing. in general, which is stration, that is mass action we can use now, whether power.
the policy of revolutionary Socialism, is not a policy or not we are in an actual revolutionary crisis.
The final struggle against Capitalism is on; it may only for an actual revolutionary crisis. The tactics of In proletarian dictatorship is implied the necessity last months, or years, or tens of years, but this is a the class struggle, of the unrelenting antagonism on all issues between the proletariat and the bourgeoisie: after the conquest of power organizing a new prole tion.
of overthrowing the political parliamentary state, and revolutionary epoch imposing revolutionary tactics.
And revolutionary agitation is itself an act of revolufunction in normal as well as in revolutionary tarian state of the organized producers, of the feelertimes.
ated Soviets. These concepts were implied (if not It is not our job to hasten a revolutionary crisis.
It didn require an actual revolutionary crisis to fully expressed) in revolutionary, industrial unionism, Capitalism itself takes care of that. Our job is to oppose the imperialistic war.
which equally contained in itself the implication of prepare. Our job is to act on the immediate problems It didn require a revolutionary crisis to make Lee mass action. Revolutionary industrial unionism placed. unemployment, the soldiers, strikes. class war prisacceptance of the war in order to save the Russian parliamentarism in its proper perspective. The ac oners in the spirit of revolutionary Socialisin, in this Revolution a betrayal of Socialism.
ceptance of and the propaganda for revolutionary in way preparing the final action.
It didn require a revolutionary crisis to make ee lustrial unionism did not require an actual revolu The Left Wing Program is a program of action, not voting for Liberty Ponds, it betrayal of Socialist tionary crisis: yet the moderates refused to accept this a program of wishing for the moon. Soplistry can practice.
vital American contribution to revolutionary theory annihilate it. Life itself is with us.
ing of the crisis. The except the acute questions.
They Destroy the Left Wing!
speech.
T: HE old guard within the Socialist Party is standBy Sugarman olution is to be brought about. wails Ralph. He ing on its head, in desperation. All of its literary wants blue prints, suppose, and a detailed program the talent has been crafted into service in an attempt to as deplorable as fact that many alleged of each day events.
save the Party for the old leaders and the old policies. Socialists make democratie campaigns on the Socialist The logic of the gentlemen of the right is indeed and 10 stamp out the rapidly growing movement of the ticket. And poor Ralph gives ile impression that the peculiar. Workers have rejected mikler programs, Liberator is a left wing organ!
Left.
they urge, and therefore tis folly to present more Now comes Ralph korngold with a communication further. use Billy Sunday methods. This is laughThose of the left, says the estimable Korngold radical ones. The first is true. They have rejecter mill programs. because they are mild programs. We addressed to the Socialist press and officialdom, an able. Recall, for a moment, effusion the typical campaign have lost fights in the past. what reason 10 suppose Romanticism.
entitled Revolutionary we can win 10w? is one of their questions. As if Ralph effort is indeed a gem. Vote for ME! If am not elected, the city will conditions are the same now as in past decades! The le quote. The great Russian novelist Turgenieff go to the dogs. There is only one road to salvation. main difficulty with these Socialist standpatters is that warned the revolutionists against what he called the that is my clection. The Republicans are liars. The they cannot keep pace with the worship of the dirty shirt. Korngold reflection is Democrats are thieves Poloa me!
moving too rapidly for them. They cannot keep up.
of course tipon the wage worker who doesn dress as And so on, ad nauseum. Yet korngold says we use They are are still in the last century!
immaculately as himself, but as between a dirty shirt the Tilly Sunday methods. is characteristic of these literary faddists and and a muddy brain, such as Korngold s, we much pre The slow plocidling processes of eclucation and org extremists that they never finish anything they start, fer the former. Then. Comrade Korngold refers to zation they left wing) will have thing of concludes the estimable Mr. Korngold. Well there the fact that 11. Dunn, a Butte syndicalist, who is charges our critic. Korngold was manager of the is one little job that we ve started and that we intend rather vague on a number of questions, was a candid. literature department of the national ostice for a tinie. to finish and that soon. We re going to clean out ate for mayor on the Democratic arty ticket. This The educational stuff that he got out is well known. the Socialist Party to begin with the moderates ll is to deplored, but the fact that Dunn made a demo Let us teach the workers the common sense of the milk he forced to get out of the way. For the day of the cratic campaign on the Democratic ticket is scarcely question! They don tell us exactly how their rer Socialists in the Socialist Party has arrived.