All the mass movements are suffering as a consequence of the demise of the "revolutionary" left, but particulaly the unions. A generation of activists are coming of age without the experience and perspective provided by the hard-nosed (but generally pragmatic) analysis that the Party used to provide through it's internal debates.
Tony Evans
michael perelman wrote:
> Let me second Doug's analysis of the communist party. His example of the
> taxi drivers suggest that it was not so much the policies of the party but
> the people. I cannot think of a group that seemed to have more good people
> (and not just good in a political sense) than the ex-communists that I have
> met.
>
> Of course, to some extent, this kind of person gravitated to the party; but
> even so the party helped many to gain a sense of community and political
> experience that might have been difficult otherwise.
>
> Louis Proyect has told stories of the contributions of the Trotskyist
> movement to union organizing. I do not know many of those people -- only
> the Hal Draper and the Independent Socialists that I knew in Berkeley. So I
> do not know how to compare and contrast the contributions of the two groups.
>
> --
> Michael Perelman
> Economics Department
> California State University
> Chico, CA 95929
>
> Tel. 530-898-5321
> E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu