[Marxism] The problemmatic of party discipline

[Walter Lippmann]

Radosh played the banjo and was a leftoid at the University of Wisconsin
when Mike Lebowitz and I were students back in the sixties. Like many who
had been raised on faith in Stalin and Stalinism, he and his milieu had
been shattered by the Khruschev revelations and moved slowly, or not so
slowly, to the political right. George Watt's son, whose name escapes me
now, was part of that milieu. James Weinstein, the founder of the magazine
IN THESE TIMES was part of that milieu as well, though he never became the
hard-line rightist which Radosh has become, who's got more in common with
David Horowitz than Weinstein did. 

Jimmie Weinstein once told me that he, following the CP line, made a turn
to industry in the early fifties, something I never had chance to discuss
with him in the greatest detail. One of the leaders of the CP in Madison,
Wisconsin was a dour individual named Arnold Lockshin, or Arnie as he did
NOT like to be called. He came to Los Angeles where he was a leading light
in the CPUSA for a time, and later moved to Texas and still later defected
to the Soviet Union. No one seems to know what he's up to now, He was some
kind of biologist or other physical science person back in the sixties at
the time I met him.

Sneering at others with whom we disagree isn't helpful. I remember once
upon a time having dinner with Harry Ring and Priscilla March, who were
leading figures in the SWP back in the day. Weinstein had just started
up IN THESE TIMES (Studies on the Left was long gone by then.) Harry
predicted ITT couldn't last because it's politics were so bad. Well,
ITT is still here, and so is THE MILITANT. So much for predictions.

Party discipline can be of course either a good or a bad thing, depending
on who's using it and the context in which it is used. When a movement is
in decline, as a certain paint company many of us here know something of,
it can prevent the movement from facing up to its problems and dilemmas.
But when used to positive effect, party discipline can also multiply the
effect of the work of a small group to something much more powerful.

The devil, of course, is in the details. The how and the when that party
discipline is developed, used or imposed. It all depends. There cannot
be a one-size-fits-all rule which applies to all times and places.

The last line of the NYT article is particularly on point, I think.
Stalin was bad, but there WERE worse things in the world even than him.
(Hitler, for example.) Trotsky said that Stalinism and fascism were
symmetrical, but that's not the same thing as saying "identical". 

They were bad. Really bad. But not identical. The rise of the Soviet
Union was a good thing, but very contradictory. The fall of the USSR
was a mixed bag as well. This is where dialectics is indispensable.

This is the point I've tried to make so often around here regarding
China, South Africa, Iran, Brazil. Words like like "good" and "bad"
just aren't sufficient to explain these phenomena, at least they
shouldn't be for anyone educated in Marxism. A more nuanced, more
dialectical approach can provide better guidance on complex topic.

The best things which we can use the internet for, and forums like
Marxmail, is to learn new information and to clarify our thinking
on complex issues. 


Walter Lippmann
Los Angeles, California
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THE NEW YORK TIMES wrote:
In the letter, which Mr. Radosh provided along with the lyrics, Mr. 
Seeger gives more insight into his cold war thinking. Mr. Seeger said he 
had concentrated on showing what the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had 
accomplished “without using guns.”

“But I still hoped that someone like Khrushchev or Gorbachev could open 
things up,” he writes. “But I underestimated (and probably still do) how 
the majority of the human race has faith in violence.” The “basic 
mistake,” he adds, was “Lenin’s faith in discipline.” He closes warmly: 
“Well, you stay well. Keep on.”

In the interview Mr. Seeger said Mr. Radosh had made a career out of 
exposing the crimes of Soviet Communism. He said the focus on his own 
past was “kind of funny.”

“I’m sure,” he added, “there are more constructive things he could do 
with his life.”










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WALTER LIPPMANN
Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
writer - photographer - activist
http://www.walterlippmann.com
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