Subject: LL9804213 Ben Seattle: What is to be done?
Date:    Thursday, April 09, 1998 3:02 PM

Louis Pausen (LL9804.212) replied to Chris Faatz (LL9804.174) 
who wrote:

> In short, Klo, what are the routes to be explored in building 
> an authentic communist movement in this country that has 
> mass appeal and influence, that's not subject to social 
> democratic deviations, that's flexible enough to be able to 
> respond quickly and adequately to major turns on the part 
> of the class struggle, and to *actually* rather than
> *theoretically* struggle for power?

Louis and Chris are raising what, in my opinion, is the most
important question of all.  

As Louis put it: 

        "In essence, this question can be rephrased as 
          'WHAT IS TO BE DONE'?"

My own views on this question were expressed 
in LL9804.039 (excerpt reproduced below).

The decisive task *in practice* is to create an electronic 
news service for workers which will be open to all 
progressive (ie: including social-democratic and reformist) 
political trends.  Such a common news service would 
function as an arena of both *cooperation* and *competition* 
between various trends (including between revolutionary 
and reformist trends), would lead to clarity on the 
similarities and differences between the various trends, 
would bring activists of different trends into contact 
with one another in the context of useful practical work 
and would bring *real news* (as well as a better 
understanding of the controversies involved in the creation 
of a communist movement) to a large audience (that 
would eventually number in the millions).  The clear 
analogy here is the creation of Iskra.

Such a development would lay the groundwork for a 
*real clarification* of the distinction between the 
revolutionary and reformist ideologies.

The decisive task *in theory* is to focus on the key question: 

            how will a system of workers' rule 
            suppress the bourgeoisie 
            without suppressing the workers?

I would very much like to see thoughtful discussion of these 
views.  I believe the question of "what are the decisive tasks?" 
is the most important question to address.  Louis and Chris 
have raised it directly.  Jim Hillier, in his post on "communist 
unity" of 27.Mar.98 also raised a strongly related question: 

        How will the various forces committed to the creation 
        of a powerful communist movement find ways to 
        better coordinate their efforts?


For the rebirth of an authentic
and powerful communist movement,

Ben Seattle
----//-// 9.Apr.98
email:   ben@pix.org
web:    www.Leninism.org

====================================
Excerpt from LL9804.039 -- 30.Mar.98
====================================

What are the tasks which I identified in my essay 
as being decisive for the creation of a powerful 
communist movement?

          *          *          *          * 

The decisive task *in practice* is the development
of an electronic news service without copyright 
and created such that readers could not be 
*barred access* to any progressive political trend.

Readers themselves (thru a collaborative process) 
and competing political trends will rate articles 
and decide what will appear on various competing 
"front pages" that will function as windows into 
a single common database to which all trends will 
contribute.  Such a news service will eventually 
provide millions of readers easy access to a 
common indexed system of progressive articles, 
commentary and opinion on all important topics 
and will, furthermore, allow readers to add their 
own public comments or questions to all articles 
and, in this way, will serve as the launching 
ground for a large number of forums.

I am currently at work on a very modest web-based 
prototype of such a system.  My prototype system 
would be capable of being used by hundreds of 
people, not millions.  But it will help to 
illustrate the concepts involved.  My hope is that
it will both be of practical use (in a limited way)
and inspire further work.

Lenin unified the scattered, squabbling marxist 
groups in Russia around a common newspaper that 
linked the various organizations to one another
--and to the masses.  The linkage of the scattered
groups thru a common information system (ie: Iskra)
facilated their unity in practice and created 
conditions for the successful ideological struggle
against the immense influence of reformism 
(ie: the reflection of the bourgeois ideology 
within the marxist movement).  A distributed 
electronic news system, controlled by no single 
trend with a heavy hand, will likely begin to 
play a loosely analogous role in the first decade 
of the next century.

Make no mistake.  Such a news service, 
representing a powerful beacon to millions and 
embodying the hopes, dreams and aspirations of 
all progressive mankind--will inevitably emerge.  

The only question remaining is whether such a 
news service will be created now by progressive 
activists such as ourselves--or later by others 
with deeper insight and a more powerful dedication
to the proletariat.

          *          *          *          * 

The decisive task *in theory* is the development 
of a living picture of how workers' rule will 
function in a modern, stable society.  From a 
scientific standpoint, such has *never existed*.

In order for a communist movement to be viable, 
much less capable of shaking the earth, the 
present-day crisis of "communist" theory must 
be overcome.  Nowhere is the bankruptcy of this 
theory more obvious and more critical--than in 
its utter failure to realistically explain (or 
even intelligently discuss) the *alternative* 
to bourgeois rule.  This is *the* central 
question of communist theory.  And until it 
is answered, until the *discussion* of this 
question succeeds in drawing in workers--a 
genuinely communist movement will never be 
able to outgrow its infancy.

     =======================
     How will a workers' state 
     suppress the newly overthrown
     (but still immensely powerful)
     bourgeoisie *without also*
     suppressing workers ?
     =======================

Against such a question, all the immense confusion,
self-deception and inbred charlatanism (which, at 
present, dominate the present-day "communist" 
movement) -- will have about as much chance as 
a goldfish in a blender.  

All that will be left will be pink, frothy water.

          *          *          *          *

My essay, "1917 was the Beta Version" can be 
reached by clicking the prominent link to it 
at www.communism.org.  I invite all readers of 
this list to check it out and either comment on 
it here or write to me.  I am committed to 
linking, at the bottom of my essay, to all 
serious and thoughtful responses.

Ben Seattle
----//-// 30.Mar.98  3am
www.Leninism.org