Political Report of the Standing Committee of the League of Revolutionaries for a New America, December 2007

The outlines of political polarization are coming into focus.  These beginning phases of political polarization frame our tasks, our work, and our policy. The League stands on its firm grasp of the content of the time to continually assess the particular stages of the revolutionary process. We do this in order to deliberate politically – to identify what to prioritize and where to concentrate, and the specific political and organizational steps that will advance us toward our mission and our vision. 

The foundation for the political polarization we are heading for is very different from past periods.  The polarization leading up to the Civil War, for example, was based on a split within the capitalist class. It was a period when the capitalist system was expanding and the social connections, particularly between the workers and the capitalists, were strengthened. Today, we see that labor-replacing technology is destroying value, the very foundation of capitalism. Profound social destruction follows in its wake, breaking the connection (in production and society) between the capitalists and the workers. Antagonism and destruction – this is the foundation for the political polarization for which we are preparing.

The ruling class must guarantee that private property is protected at all costs. Our class must abolish private property and replace it with public property. The League presents the resolution of the problem, the necessity for political power to implement that resolution, and a strategy for achieving that. Everything we do follows from that resolution and that strategy.

Political Polarization: Why it is Important

Polarization is the process of opposing poles being wrenched apart, destroying what held them together and made them what they were.  As the relations that developed on the old material basis are torn apart, the opportunity arises to propagandize for and fight to establish new relations. Production without labor calls for distribution without money. This process begins as part of a leap, with the introduction of a new quality. It is only under such conditions that transformation is possible.

Faced with the fraying bonds that once held it together, all of society is pulled into the struggle to reconstitute society on the basis of the new means of production. Political polarization is the wrenching apart of the poles that formerly held together the quality they made up. The poles then confront each other externally (rather than within their former connection) and fight it out politically (and/or militarily) as external entities. Polarization in society is the result of polarization in the economy. As the society polarizes, the factions turn against one another. A process of destruction of the old order takes place and a new process emerges from this struggle and destruction. The culmination of this process is the class struggle for political power. It depends upon the conscious and deliberate action of one class against another – and more specifically, the action of one class against the political authority of another class, that is, against the state. This requires that each side fully understand its class interests and goals.

Political polarization is a process and proceeds through stages. It rests on and eventually follows the stages of development of economic and social processes. The volatile and increasingly dangerous international situation is the overall context in which the political polarization will progress. War, geopolitical shifts, economic collapse, and the destruction of social institutions (including the two-party system) are shaping and accelerating the process.

Inevitably, people react on the basis of the world as it was, not what it is becoming. They seek ways to intellectually understand what they face. All kinds of forces struggle to determine the direction society should go. Step by step, the interplay of objective conditions and the battle for the minds of the class develop to a point where neither the ruling class nor the working class can live in the old way. A revolutionary situation then begins to mature. Objective factors create the possibilities, but without the proper intellectual, ideological and political understanding our class will fail in its attempts to transform society in its interests.

Look to the Future

At this stage, the struggle is not presenting itself in pure class forms, but as a social struggle over the distribution of the necessaries of life. All sectors of society are involved. It is a social motion in response to the massive destruction brought on by the changes in the economy, made worse by the ongoing transformation of the state, war, and the dismantling of social programs. The new class develops within this motion. The social struggle is the environment in which to prepare for political struggle.

The economic and social polarization is quite advanced. The destruction of value taking place in the real estate market and the effect that will have on the financial system is accelerating the polarization of wealth. We can anticipate a corresponding social response. The workers have little understanding of the meaning of the conditions they face or the significance of their historical role, but are beginning to find ways to carry on a fight against the eroding material conditions. It is in this environment we can make some headway in building an organization of revolutionaries by educating the people about their real interests — so that the social and political process is in line with and reflects the economic process.

The confusion that exists in the minds of the people should not distract us from the advances that have occurred or the possibilities and dangers that the situation presents. The general discontent, the disillusionment with the two political parties, the anti-capitalist sentiments arising in some sectors, are all impulses the organization can rely on to break the people’s reliance on the “leaders” the capitalists have chosen for us. Even the susceptibility to misdirection, populism, and agitation for a fascist movement can be seen as evidence of possibilities. People are looking for answers, and it is clear that they turn to what is available – religion (or at least the church) and fascism (or at least populism).

The resolution of society’s problems requires more than an intensification of the social struggle. Our tactic is to break the hold the Democratic Party has on the workers, keeping them dependent upon the capitalists. This is why our focus is to throw the blow at the middle. In this context, our tactic is to free the thinking of the revolutionaries from the ideological constraints imposed by the enemy class. Articulating a program that solves the problems of society is a first step in the political development of the new class. The committee system, the development of the press of the movement, and all the efforts to break out of our self-containment are designed for this moment. We have to be in position amongst the people in order to win them away from capitalism and to a system of social cooperation.

Tasks of the League

We are reorganizing the League so we can disperse into the social struggle and make contact with the revolutionaries. We have an understanding of the problem, a strategy to resolve it and a mission that guides us. But this is just the beginning. We have to disperse with clarity of purpose, armed with specific assessments in each area of what it will take to properly introduce a class program into the social struggle, a plan for doing so, and a style of work that allows us to connect to the various networks of revolutionaries. It means using our political tactics and propaganda to push the process along. To do this, we need an accurate assessment of the mood of the people and what they are thinking. A system of ongoing education and consolidation is key to preparing the revolutionaries in the League to carry out the program.

Propaganda is our connection to the revolutionaries. Political polarization cannot develop as long as workers continue to think like their enemy. Our program clearly states our mission. Every committee is responsible to carry out that mission. The work of every individual and collective has to reflect our understanding of the objectivity of what is happening, and to act on that.

 

January.2008.Vol18.Ed1
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