In our “9 Letters to Our Comrades,” we argue that Avakian’s new synthesis is flawed and that his cult of personality is unjustified. We argue that these errors of line have led to major continuing shortcomings in practice. And we call for a “very presumptuous work” of re-forging revolutionary theory, practice and organization in the U.S.
There have been (as you can imagine) many diverse responses to the “9 Letters.” This includes considerable interest and agreement from many people around the RCP. At the same time, some RCP supporters (in different parts of the country) have responded in ways suggesting a common script.
We recently received the following text from an RCP supporter. These same themes and phrases have been heard from others. This is, I believe, the RCP’s initial response to our “9 Letters.”
“Hey, So… Mike Ely…I’m not going to get into this too much because I really don’t feel like his `nine letters’ are worth talking about. But here are some initial thoughts.
“He is someone who was closely associated with the P for some years who has acted and continues to act in an extremely unprincipled manner, pretending for a whole period of time to support the P even while (as is now clear) he increasingly chafed the rev content and ‘edge’ of what the P is all about- and in this context the importance of BA and his body of work and method and approach- has been more clearly and sharply brought forward, never raising differences with the P, although he had ample room and occasion to do so, then suddenly severing his association with the P and launching highly unprincipled and opportunistic attacks, spreading lies and distorting the views and aims of the P with regard to BA overall. The answer to this is continue to put forward and and to engage in principled discussion with a very broad range of people about what the views and aims of the P actually are, while answering his distortions where is seems necessary and advisable. It is one thing to express differences with the P- as it welcomes the the opportunity and is eager to get into such discussions of differences with people who are approaching this in a principled way, and it does this all the time as part of its overall and ongoing work- but it quite another thing to launch unprincipled attacks, to spread distortions about what the P stands for and does. and to deliberately sabotage and undermine its efforts, when it is clear (and well known to this person) that what the P stands for and is working toward, is viewed with fundamental antagonism by the very powerful, and highly repressive, forces who have power in this society. And it is all the more deplorable to do this after having broken ties with the P on an unprincipled basis and then striking the posture of someone with “inside” info. Quitting the P and then turning around and then attacking the P- particularly in the form of denouncing the ‘cult of the personality’ and accusing Cs’ of “religious dogma and cultism,” including when it is done from a ‘left’ or even a ’socialist’ or ‘communist’ posture- is a rather classical form of capitulating to imperialism and attacking C, while pretending (perhaps even to oneself) that one is not doing so. (witness, for example, Kautsky’s attacks on Lenin, especially when the latter had the audacity to lead an actual rev. while Kautsky betrayed the very cause and the principles professed).”
What stands out:
This response avoids any serious engagement with the substance of the 9 Letters. Instead it focuses a series of charges against me personally. It seeks to dismiss the substantive engagement in the 9 Letters as merely distortions, sabotage, unprincipled attacks, and betrayal. This RCP script is an example of the “whateverist” approach I criticize in the “9 Letters” — the mind-numbing logic that this “caliber of leadership” is right, so anyone criticizing it must be wrong.
I will not answer the personal charges in detail. They are both untrue and irrelevant. Gossip, anecdote, and ad hominem attacks are all beside the point. Maoists correctly say “the issue is line, not author.”
A heartfelt challenge:
Let’s sharply engage on the high plane of two-line struggle. If the “9 Letters” contain errors or “distortions,” name them. And then let’s continue the struggle from there. If Maoist opposition to Avakian’s new synthesis is now inherently counterrevolutionary, explain why.
Let’s confront the RCP’s lengthening silence around the major communist movements of the world, including Nepal and India, that disagree with Avakian’s new synthesis. Let’s debate what internationalism looks like and what a retreat from internationalism looks like.
Together let’s escalate our “very presumptuous” theoretical and practical work toward revolution and liberation.
“We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.”
Mike E
Glossary of RCP Jargon used above:
the P – means “the Party.” i.e. the RCP rev content – rev is short for revolutionary BA and his body of work and method and approach – BA is Bob Avakian, “his body of work and method and approach” are the three components of Avakian’s theoretical contributions that are said to represent an indispensable and qualitative new leap in Marxism. accusing Cs’ of – C’s in this case is short for Communists attacking C – attacking communism Kautsky – Karl Kautsky was the leader of the Socialist Second International and the large German Social Democratic party who opposed the Bolshevik revolution. The analogy here assumes Avakian is “a Lenin,” and any communist criticizing him is therefore “a Kautsky.”
Published: December 2007
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Marlon Brando at the funeral of Lil Bobby Hutton. 1968
This is a reply to STP’s observations about the Set the Record Straight Project and the RCP’s focus on elite colleges.
STP said (among other things):
“I think your point on having the ability to boast about what Universities they were at. It is clear that the Set the Record Straight could have been had in many places, but these places were chosen out of the strategic vision RCP has of these Universities. In fact, it was the same thread of thinking that ran through WCW on these Universities. Events of rebellion sprouting at Columbia, Harvard, etc. are influential because it is getting revolutionary politics out to the future administrators of this system and it would sort of trickle down to the rest of the country.”
I don’t believe Avakian wants to focus on the elite colleges because students there are “the future administrators of this system and it would sort of trickle down to the rest of the country.” It is not because Lotta wants some resume fluffer of having spoken in a “prestigious” place.
You may have heard these things, and I know they are what some people claim. The RCP’s actual reasoning is not often expressed openly, and so that obviously creates confusion among the RCYB and “Revolution Club” supporters expected to carry it out. But I don’t believe that is Avakian’s goal or the line of the RCP. In fact it all misses the point.
This focus on elite colleges and top-tier intellectuals was explicitly demanded by Avakian (for both the STRS and more importantly the “Engage Avakian” project) — and came in as part of the changes following the assertion of “Avakian as a cardinal question” and the whole new stress on “creating a culture of appreciation, promotion and popularization” (AP&P). This is all integral to the plan to hoist Avakian into “the superstructure” as a major player.
In a year when the bourgeois politicians are running for president, Avakian will (I believe) be running a parallel campaign. This would not be conceived as electoral effort, but one that presents Avakian as the potential head of a new socialist state. This project of promotion hopes to tap into the real political juices and frustrations that are certain among progressive people over the coming months. The RCP thinks someone else will become president in January 2009, but believes Avakian can be made (in the process) into a real contender on the political stage.Read the rest of this entry »
Riots in Pakistan after the assassination of Bhutto, Dec. 27, 2007
by Mike Ely
Bhutto, a pro-western notorously-corrupt liberal trained in Oxford and Harvard, returned to Pakistan as the current U.S. ally there, General-dictator Mushariff, started tottering. She was expecting Mushariff to stabilize himself by offering to share power (and money) with her party.
Now she is dead. It is hard to pin down all the implications and fallout of this assassination, but they are almost certain to be major. The death of Benazir Bhutto is a major “oh shit” moment for the U.S. empire and its drive for hegemony.
CNN slanted the news immediately by wonder whether “rogue” elements within the Pakistani government may have been involved. But Bhutto’s followers saw no reason to suspect anything but official involvement at the highest levels – and in national riots attacked any visible symbols of the military dictator Musharraf. Read the rest of this entry »
The RCP did their annual round up of the year in pictures in this issue of their newspaper Revolution. Go look.
Several things stand (to me) in this year-end ussue:
1) In the roundup of “the Year in Struggle,” literally no mention of the life-and-death struggle for revolution in south asia. (There no mention of Nepal, or India in particular — where Maoist forces have been waging difficult struggles.)
And there is no mention of other Maoists of the world at all (that I could find).
2) Also: There is no mention of the major leap in international communist unity and struggle represented by the “International Seminar” organized by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) on the theme of “Imperialism and Proletarian Revolution in the 21st Century.”
This event happened at the very end of 2006, but its announcement was in 2007, so one would think it would be included among the important events (for communists and internationalists!) in this year.
In fact I don’t think this event was even mentioned in Revolution newspaper this year. (Even though the RCP was listed as an observer of the seminar).
And even though this seminar was publicly covered in depth within the Maoist magazine The Worker #11 which appeared in July 2007. (When that issue appears online, I will make links available here.)
There is also no mention, by the way, in the RCP’s “Year in Struggle” of the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement (as there has generally been in previous years.)
* * * * * *
While we are talking:
I similarly noticed that the last 2007 issue of Revolution has a “In Memory of….” section honoring progressive and revolutionary people who died this year.
But there is no mention of the horrific Gaur Massacre in Nepal (which took place in April 2007) where a death squad killed 28 Maoists and supporters, and wounded 50, who were aligned with the Madhesi Liberation Front. (Nor has there been, as far as I can tell, any mention or condemnation of this massacre in Revolution at any other time this year.)
Here is a video discussion of the massacre by Nepali Maoist leader Gaurav. Note: In it, Gaurav accuses the U.S. (among others) of responsibility for the massacre.
What does it mean that even such a major event happens (with allegations of a U.S. role) without a word of condemnation from the RCP in the US?
We received the following from A World to Win news service
December 17, 2007. A World to Win News Service. On December 5, police carried out raids against homes and offices in cities in northern, southern and western Germany. According to the Associated Press, their goal was to obtain “evidence of the personnel and organizational structure of the TKP/ML foreign terrorist organization and its terrorist activity, federal prosecutors said in a statement.” Following is the full text of a press release by the European Coordination of the International League for People’s Struggle.
With the advancement of imperialist aggression the attacks towards those forces that actively participate in the national and social liberation struggle and anti-imperialist struggle have accelerated. Under the so-called “anti-terror” concept or “internal security precaution” many homes, offices and associations are being raided, without any plausible explanation, activists are being arrested and in some countries even threatened, killed and tortured. This wave of repression has also developed in Europe.
A new example for this is the 5th of December 2007; in the early morning hours in about eight cities in Germany a broad operation was held. The operation was carried out by about 145 policemen. The decision of the operation was given by the Highest Court in Karlsruhe. The raid was done against two associations and 10 apartments. Some of these persons are well known left-democrat members of the ATIF association (of Turkish workers abroad).
The accusation against all of them is that they are members of the Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist Leninist (TKP/ML). It is mentioned in the search warrant that the TKP/ML is not prohibited in Germany. The houses were searched for hours to find “suspicious” objects and “relevant” documents, after taking all the activists to the police station for taking fingerprints they were released.
The media stream has also written about this and did their contribution in concern of misinformation. They wrote “operation against TKP/ML militants,” or “operation in terrorist cell,” etc., in the news, the activists were shown as terrorists and members of the organization. This shows that the bourgeois media is doing nothing else than serving the purpose of the ruling classes. In Germany progressive and left wing organizations and their activists and also migrant associations who are struggling internationally against worldwide repression or that stand against all kinds of human rights violations are being considered as “very dangerous.”
We are calling upon the progressive and democratic public and also intellectuals to take a stand against this injustice and illegitimate measure of the German state against the democratic, progressive movement. This attack against progressive persons is a violation of the principal constitutional right of freedom of speech and the right of organizing.
Emerging from the interaction, CPN Maoist Chairman Prachanda told reporters that the conference was in fact the roundtable conference his party had been demanding.
Interesting remarks by the comrade! So that was what all Maoist hue and cry of round table conference about? According to reports, an interaction program was organized this afternoon that was attended by a handful of ‘prominent’ civil society members and Seven-Party Alliance leaders.
During the interaction civil society personalities urged the SPA to stand united to hold the Constituent Assembly (CA) elections within the current Nepali year (mid-April 2008). Senior leaders of the major factions of the SPA who took part in the interaction program said that they took the suggestions positively.
A meeting of the top SPA leaders was slated for today afternoon at the PM’s official residence at Baluwatar to finalise the outstanding political issues. Sensing that the “authoritarian” SPA leaders were using them just to keep them as witnesses to unilateral decisions (or rather fulfill the Maoists demand of organizing the so called roundtable conference in the name of interaction), chairman of the Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities, Pasang Sherpa walked out of the interaction.
But I think if the interaction makes Maoists happy, it’s fine. What’s the problem is giving a weeping child a sweet if that makes him happy. Today’s interaction is just a chocolate for the Maoists. We all know the real shots will be called by the SPA leaders themselves which is okay if they indeed decided to patch up and take the country out of this current deadlock and lead us towards elections.
“The CA elections under the mixed electoral system: 60 percent of the 601-member CA will be elected under the proportional representation system and rest under first-past-the-post system. A conference of the civil society will be organized to save face of the Maoists. A steering committee will be formed to run the government, who will lead the body remains undecided. Maoists are demanding that they be give the leadership of the committee.”
The news is that the top leaders of the three major parties of the Seven-Party Alliance (SPA) have finalised the draft prepared by a taskforce (of SPA representatives) to evolve a 20-point agreement to address major contentious issues, including the electoral system for the Constituent Assembly (CA) elections. Prime Minister and the Nepali Congress (NC) President Girija Prasad Koirala, CPN-UML General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal and CPN Maoist Chairman Prachanda had met at the PM’s official residence at Baluwatar today morning to find an outlet to the festering political predicaments. The three leaders have also agreed to express commitment for a republican order in the interim constitution, which is to be endorsed by the elected CA.
They have also agreed to fix a new date to hold the twice-deferred CA elections by mid-April 2008 and to set up a steering committee to run the government, ekantipur reports citing unnamed sources. The major parties have also agreed on reallocation of the ministries, management of Maoist army, including those who were disqualified in the second stage of the verification, stepping up efforts to improve the condition of the Maoist cantonments, give immediate relief to the victims of the conflict and to find the whereabouts of the disappeared people. The meeting of the top SPA leaders has been scheduled for Sunday to give final touches to the agreement. (detail)
Under great pressure the government parties of Nepal have apparently agreed to end the monarchy and institute a republic. This comes after the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) had withdrawn from the government three months ago, and there was great speculation that they may restart the armed struggle (in the form of protracted peoples war or a final insurrection.)
Nepal to End Its Monarchy in a Deal With Ex-Rebels
KATMANDU, Nepal (Reuters) — Nepal’s government agreed Sunday to abolish the centuries-old monarchy in a political deal with Maoist former rebels, but the decision will go into effect only after next year’s elections, party officials said.Three months ago, the anti-monarchy Maoists, who ended their decade-long civil war last year, left the government. They were demanding an immediate declaration of a republic, a step that indefinitely delayed a constituent assembly election that had been set for November.That election, Nepal’s first national vote since 1999, was intended to map the country’s political future, including that of the monarchy, and was expected to cap the landmark 2006 peace agreement that ended a conflict that caused 13,000 deaths.
Government leaders met with the former rebel chief, known by his nom de guerre, Prachanda, but whose real name is Pushpa Kamal Dahal, to break the deadlock.
“Nepal will be a Federal Democratic Republic nation,” the six-party governing alliance and the Maoists said in a statement. “And the decision will be implemented after the first meeting of the constituent assembly.”
“But if the king creates serious hurdles to the constituent assembly elections,” the statement added, a two-thirds majority of the interim Parliament “can remove the monarchy even before the polls.”
The popularity of King Gyanendra plunged when he ousted the government and assumed absolute powers in 2005, only to yield control after weeks of protest last year. The monarch has traditionally been viewed in Nepal as an incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu.
The twice-delayed elections will now be held within the Nepali year, which ends on April 12, and the Maoists will rejoin the government, said Arjun Narsingh K. C., a spokesman for the Nepali Congress Party, the country’s biggest political party.
Thousands of Maoist former fighters have been confined to United Nations-monitored camps since last year after the government agreed to hold the elections. The government will also begin the process of integrating the former fighters and pay their wages regularly, the statement said.
In return, the Maoists will hand back the property and land seized during the conflict. But mainstream political parties say the Maoists are still extorting money and intimidating political workers.
The libertarian-republican presidential candidate Ron Paul spoke about fascism when discussing the rival republican candidate Mike Huckabee. Huckabee is the most prominent fundamentalist Christian rightist in the campaign — with extreme views that are coming out more and more as the campaign continues. And so by implication, this is a criticism (by Paul) of much of the Religious Right itself.
This injection of fascism is interesting on several levels: It illustrates that parts of the Republicans are highly hostile to the implications of the Christian right, and also the “fascization” trends toward domestic-clampdown-in-the-name-of-global-war. Notice how the Fox interviewer is stunned by this suggestion that Huckabee is a fascist, and seeks to simply dismiss it from the discussion.
Paul’s forces include their own extreme forces (of the John Birch type) and also wider libertarian currents. (I have seen student republican supporters of Ron Paul showing up a bit wide-eyed but fervently recruiting at every antiwar march I’ve attended this year). So it shows the kinds of contradictions I discuss in Letter 5 among the rather extreme and fascist types, and between them and the larger conservative movements.
While we are talking:
We received the following from A World to Win news service
Emerging from the interaction, CPN Maoist Chairman Prachanda told reporters that the conference was in fact the roundtable conference his party had been demanding.
