Juliana Shearer writes to me Wednesday Sept. 9/98: "For instance, I was not advocating racism or some sort of revolutionary upheaval based on race lines, or even predicting that this will happen. I was merely trying to point out that there are not many working class people who are inflamed with desire for revolution of *any* kind. And those that can even conceive of something like revolution occurring in the "real world" can only see it in terms of their fear of other people creating said revolution."
Doyle This is clearer than your last posting. Let me be clear about the word revolution. It means a society, like Russia, or China, or France, or the U.S. went through a social transformation. Political parties do not make revolutions, though they can advocate revolutions, and they can provide ideas, and other aids to the process, revolutions are only possible in societies in which the whole population is in motion. It is perfectly plain to everyone at the moment that revolution is not going to happen in the U.S. for the time being. When you start talking about impossible claims for instance; 'we must have revolution' in order to have social change you discredit the idea of doing something politically. You make the ability to understand the terms of the debate impossible.
Doyle You make the claim that the only kind of person interested in social change is someone who falls into what your acquaintances think would cause trouble. You use a racist term to describe "black" people, and Muslims. That is what your friends think is where revolution must come from. How can I possibly get across something about what I believe in, that is social justice, if the content of what you say is replete with racist jargon, and chauvinist concepts of who makes revolution?
Doyle It is not about a choice to become a revolutionary or nothing. It is about creating a social organization that represents working class interests in the U.S. You can't make a revolution with a party. The party can participate in revolution if that were to happen, but parties are not the whole people. Parties are strategies, and tactics to gain power for the two main interests at hand, the workers, and the capitalists.
Doyle People create labor unions, people work against environmental issues, people do lots of things to build social organization. There is always ten thousand different opinions about what works and what doesn't. When you voice your opinion in public, and this is in the public eye, you begin the process of sharpening your mind to what is possible, and how to understand things in a deeper way. It doesn't hurt to make mistakes to put out ideas that are hardly coherent, or have fatal flaws. It is painful to make mistakes in front of everyone. But we all are learning from the process of exposing ourselves to criticisms from varying viewpoints.
Doyle Some of the people here are pretty sharp about things, in the sense their job as academics prepared them for that. Juliana sympathized with their lot as these academics expressed it. 'So many compromises one has to make.' 'So many flaws in the ointment.' All of this is an excuse to pardon some intellectual from their responsibility to try to present serious thoughts upon what to do. I like the courageous intellectual who doesn't bother crying about how tough the life of a teacher is. There are problems for all of us. Certainly Max Sawicky is right to say that those who hurl stones can be hypocrites, and yet ...we don't need some self admitting sell-out to give us advise. We need some people with ideas, and courage to advocate something we really need. We need the means to put forward our self interests. I mean by we, the working class. We don't need to be bound by reformism. We are able to consider whatever paths that are open to us.
Doyle Again I say it looks like an economic depression coming down the pike. Whom do you want on your side when your life takes a dump in the dumpster. The guy who bemoans how many compromises he makes in his soft cushy teachers life, or someone who acknowledges your life is hard, and needs some serious answers. For me, I listen all around, and then I choose those who have something that makes sense for my life as a worker. They have to have a lot going for them. Not just a precious little rant technique and no content, but thoughts, ideas and belief in my cause.
Doyle I'm not here to put forward a particular party as an answer, but I do think it is important to have a working class party existing in the U.S. if we are going to get our interests and needs met. I don't know enough to make grand strategic proposals, but that isn't my job, it is some of intellectuals here who ought to be doing some of that work though. By God if that hurts some intellectuals feelings that I think they are goddamn sellout, tough shit. regards, Doyle Saylor