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July 12, 1919 THE REVOLUTIONARY AGE The Left Wing Answers MOST of the objections to the Left Wing, By Ferguson mitteee of the Socialist Party, issued May 29, offered by the Reformist Socialists, are is a conception of phrases made by jugglers simply subterfuges to distract from the real emphasizes how much the Party gained by using the phrases of Socialism to mean all issues. But undoubtedly there are some who casting off some of its social patriots on ac things and nothing.
take these objections seriously, and this stands count of the adoption of the St. Louis plat It must not be overlooked, also, that the in the way of their study and understanding of form. The coming of the Labor Party and mere expression of revolutionary phrases is at the vital differences between Reformist and the Non partisan League also is taken as a times the very essence of revolutionary SoRevolutionary Socialism. In order to clear benefit to the Socialist Party in that it makes cialist action. An illustration which challengthese side issues out of the way, and to compel clear and emphatic the special mission of the ed the attention of all the world was the speech the critics of the Left Wing to meet the real Socialists (or Communists) as the most of Karl Liebknecht to a street meeting in issues, we make answer to the most common advanced and resolute section of the working Berlin calling upon German workers to rise objections.
class parties of every country, that section against the Kaiser government. Another ilwhich pushes forward all others; having over Objection: The Left Wing seeks to destroy lustration which commanded world wide atthe unity of the Party on account of a quarrelage of clearly understanding the line of march, the great mass of the proletariat the advant tention and which will find its place in the of phrases.
pages of universal history was the revolutionthe conditions, and the ultimate general reAnswer: The progress of history has exary expression of Eugene Debs in the Cleve sults of the proletarian movement.
land courtroom.
ploded a fake unity within the Socialist ranks Yet it was the very character of the Socialof all countries. This was a unity of phrases, ism which died with the world war of financeIt is when the revolutionary phrases seize the mind of the masses and become transa unity having no more fundamental basis than Imperialism that it sought as adherents ele lated into revolutionary action that the proagreement on reform politics within the ents which never could be expected to meet letariat wins its triumphs. The critic who scheme of capitalist democracy. Beyond this, the tests of the class war.
orns the revolutionary phrases with rare exsome of the phrases of the class struggle, and more or less insistence that the political party The Left Wing is honest, both in its state ceptions, is really the Socialist who is ments about what Socialism is, and in its against the proletarian revolution.
of the working class must stand by itself.
desires to have within the Socialist Party only The revolutionary phrases of Socialism have The Left Wing seeks to create a real unity true Socialists of proletarian revolutionary to đo only with the mass power and mass on the basis of the true Socialist program, a unity of understanding and of action. Such lation for the enemy in that sort of a transconsciousness. There is mighty little conso action of the proletariat, and scorn the futile acts of individual terroristic violence which is the unity of the Communist International, formation of the Socialist Party, because any are unrelated to the organized proletarian which, however, rigidly excludes all elements body can see those who oppose the Left Wing, movement. Nobody ever was or could be not in complete accord with its fundamentals.
and make this the basis for trying to split the urged to individual acts of violence or sabotThe unity which is illusory simply prepares Party, are potentially the most dangerous age through the propaganda of revolutionary for a separation just at the moment of crisis. enemies of the working class at a time of Socialism.
as we have already witnessed in Germany, and crisis.
as we witnessed in 1914 when the parties of Besides there is not so much discrimination Objection: But the workers of the United the Second International chose to stand with on the part of the capitalists as might be im States do not yet want a revolution.
their respective governments rather than with agined. They are largely ignorant about the Answer: That is the misfortune, because the one another.
Socialist movement, and their class viewpoint United States is grievously in niệed of the SoA change of our party tactics and propa keeps them ignorant of Socialism until the cialist revolution.
ganda according to the requirements of the time of revolution. Meanwhile they pay little This is the master phrase of the opposition revolutionary Socialist movement will make attention to our party discussions. There is to the Left Wing, calculated to work upon the the party unsuitable as refuge for various re bound to be a new direction to the Socialist nervous fears of the timid and cautious. And formist, petty bourgeois, sentimental elements movement along with tremendous historical though timidity and caution have their comwhich have hitherto dominated the party. The changes, and this is our special and most im. plete justification, there is no justification Left Wing is obnoxious to these elements, and portant business. In these adjustments of our whatever for making this objection to the Left the Left Wing will drive them out of the So policies and tactics there are bound to be a cialist Party. Because for all losses of this few whose minds are beyond the grasp of a We say that the conditions for the social sort there will be a thousand fold gain from the new historical situation, who are bound to revolution are here: the high concentration of proletariat, which is rapidly developing rev insist on their old habits of thought and action wealth and the advanced centralization of inolutionary consciousness but which cannot be against anything. It is our business to take dustry, to such a point that supreme control is expected to regard with respect the programs care of our party according to the right ideas now in the hands of the dozen chiefs of the and performances of a Socialist Party without about what it should say and do, and in this central financial institutions; the existence of proletarian consciousness.
we can very well ignore what anybody says the class of permanent wage workers as the about our internal adjustments.
overwhelming element of the population; the Objection: The Left Wing plays the game After all, we will only stand together under adaptation of the entire national life to the of the capitalist enemy by dividing the forces a crucial test to the extent that we really agree military adventures of extra territorial financeof Socialism on account of tactical matters on fundamental party policies and methods. exploitation, with a gigantic expenditure of Answer: As already stated, the Left Wing materials and life (this expenditure being in unites the forces of Socialism. It separates Objection: The Left Wing delights in rev itself the most fruitful source of finance exthese forces from confusing and destructive olutionary phrases leading nowhere except to ploitation. the complete negation of the admixtures, which leave no meaning to So idle shouting or outbreaks of violence. parliamentary democracy by open control by cialism, and which leave no body of men and Answer: The Left Wing insists upon the the financial masters, as during the war and women ready to engage in any common action phrases which tell the truth about Socialism since, and as emphasized by the agreement of. except the game of capitalist politics (in and the politics of the class struggle and the different capitalist parties on all essential order to make Capitalism more endurable. these phrases do, as a matter of fact, describe economic matters, such as tariffs, banking and The capitalist enemy can only discover in a revolutionary movement of the conscious currency, control of public inilities, suppresthis process that there is real life and a real proletariat to make an end to Capitalism. sion of effective labor organization, yielding understanding of the revolutionary implica In truth, however, it is the Reformists and up of former concessions to the petty bourtions of the class struggle within the Socialist Opportunists who play with phrases for their geoisie in the nature of anti trust laws, taxParty. Of course a Left Wing defeat might hypocritical purposes of alluring all sorts of ation at point of consumption, with minimum be highly acceptable to the capitalists, because persons through contrary interpretations. The of taxation at the point of net profits, and it would show them that there is no revolution Left Wing seeks the life meaning of all Social Monroe Doctrine insistence upon all of South ary consciousness in the United States even ist phrases, to convey life truths.
and Central America as the special imperialamong the members of the Party dedicated The program of the Communist Internation istic monopoly of American finance capital.
to the social revolution. But a Left Wing al is a document of revolutionary Socialism, American Capitalism has reached the stage victory shows the capitalists that the Socialist second only to the Communist Manifesto of where its further progress carries with it an Party means what it says about the class strug 1848, and here is language with unambiguous inevitable and terrible toll of destructiveness.
gle and the social revolution.
meaning for any reader. The statement of On the side of the working class there can be The present opposition to the Left Wing principles of the National Executive Com(Continued on page 11)
Wing.