Black Wodds's Time to Change Course - What Britainy Communit Stand For in the most thorough exposition of the policy and outlook of the Commumist Party of Great Britain to have appeared in recent years.
The publication of this 150 page booklet was widely beralded in the Communist Party pross, and it was launched with a series of public meetings and party branch discussions across the country. It is obvious that the Communist Party takes this book very seriously and the news that it expounds are representative of Party policy in the present situation. The importance which the Communist Party pires to this book only makes the disappointment of reading it all the greater. expected to disgree with the book. But I also expected that it would contain views that were both new and Important.
Unfortunately, this is not the case. You would search in vain for even a suggestion of the debates and discussions that have been taking place among Communist Party militants for at least the past two years. There is, in Tact, very Bttle in this book that has not already been outlined in the British Road to Socialism. But perhaps the Communist Party got everything right years ago in the British Road and only needs to seprint this "truth" with a few more up to date examples and a slightly more popular presentation? This is basically the dish Woddis serves up to us as his answer to the "deep seated crisis" he sees facing the working The truth, however, is that the basic political Weas of the Communist Party contain many fundamental errors and weaknesses. What the present crisis does is to expose even more make more urgent the recognition of these weaknesses by those militants who look to the Communist Party for political leadership. CRISIS OF THE NATION?
The first chapter of the book - What's Wrong with Britain?" — Is designed to explain the nature of the present crisis. The trouble is that when it gets right down to it Woddis cannot make up his mind whether the problems now facing the mass of the people in this country ant due to a crisis of the British nation or to the fundamental nature of the capitalist aystem on which this country's society is presently based. The book is organised around the idea that ours i a National Crist" Hence the title Time to Change Course", which tries to put across the idea that the great British Nation is headed in the wrong direction and that the task of all tight-thinking Britons is to steer the Nation Do wards surer waters.
At the same time the book contains lots of pessages and statements that put a different new. the difficulties of the mass of the people are an inevitable product of the contradictions of the capitalist system, and the only solution ety. In those societies - such as Britain - in which the unfettered rule of the capitalist class and all of its positive achievements were completed long ago, the idea of the "nation today plays a thoroughly reactionary part. Talk about the Nation, the national interest, public opinion, etc, is used to hide the fact that we live in a society in which there is no common interest - a society which is divided at its very root into different social classes (the working class and the capitalist class) with completely contradictory and irreconcilable interests in cach and every question of the day. There is a big danger in sections of the left trying to use the idea of the Nation, national interest, etc, — because this plays right into the hands of all those reactionary forces who will use the very same idea to convince workers that they are wrong to struggle. In this game all the cards are stacked in favour of the reactionaries, because they represent the dominant, establishedclass in the country and only have to convince people to accept things as they are and to stop rocking the boat. We, on the other hand, have to expose the decaptions of the ruling class and convince people of the necessity and possibility of struggling against a powerful enemy. We can only do this by laying bare the false and deceprise character of ruling class ideas. allat power, with investments, bases, and influence throughout the world, the British monopolies are (p.21)
But this is absurd! As Woddis has just told is two pages cartier:
Rivalry between the major imperialist countries for markets, for sources of taw materials and cheap labour, for Gields of lucrative impistment, for strategic baacs and political influence is growing sharper, despite working-class and the national liberation movements (p.19)
Is this the "progress that is heing made" in the "mainstream of world politics today? It would appear, in fact, that our Tory government is right with-it as far as international Imperialist strategy today goes. The point is that this strategy is forced on the Tories, as it would be on ariy capitalist government, by the world imperialist economy and the needs of British capitalism.
Lack of clarity on this point is very serious, because it confuses the working-class movement about the reasons for the fiasco of past governments ciected with mass popular enthusiasm (especially the Labour governments of 1945 and 1966) and the tasks which face the move ment if such failures are not to be repeated again. The point here is that failure to solve the problems of concern to the masses is not a result of mistaken policies, or evil and infineere leaders, but a necessary consequence of the failure to decisively break with capitalism. Even the most sincere Labour Party lefts will have no choice hut to enforce the brutal poli cies required by the capitalist system, If the government of which they are a part is not immediately involved in the process of smashing that system - of mobilising the masses to take away the political and economic power of the capitalist class and replace it with workers" power. The fact that our sincere lefts may have many sleepless nights because of their class treachery will be little consolation to the masses who have to pay the price of their confusion.
In the present period of crisis and masa struggle, the revolutionary left must be absolutely clear on one central point. The only way forward Lies through the overthrow of capitalist class power, and that can only be achieved through the mobilisation of the mass of the working class (along with other groups suffering from oppression under the capitalist system) on the basis of a programme that decisively breaks with the capitalist system. The fact that com rade Woddis on several occasions states that he too shares this belief does not make up for the fact that on each decisive question be thorough in order to take even the tiniest step forward ly muddles the matter, If we are not clear cut and consistent on such decisive questions we will convince no one. Our propuganda will simply serve to back up the counterrevolutionary, reformist ideas that have served to misdirect and disorganise the working-class What Britain's Communists Stand For tionary ideas, develop the unity of the masses, and facilitate the organisation of their struggle. It is the masses and the organisations and institutions which they create in the course of their struggle which will have the task of croating socialism. The work of socialists in Parliament must be strictly subordinated to the struggle and institutions of the masses. Similarly a Socialist Government seriously committed to the destruction of capitalism must base itself not upon the hollow shell of a majority in Par lament, but on the solid bedrock of majority support within the institutions of working class power created by the masses in the course of struggle This is not just ultra-left day dreaming. Socialiam will not come to Britain except as the ro sult of a deepening crisis which moves the vast majority of the people to launch a determined fight against all those things which they have passively accepted throughout most of their Lives. This in turn will produce social struggles of a depth and breadth such as we have not seen for many years. The ruling class will light back with every means at its disposal: the sed uction of reformism, the repression of the state, the brutality of semi-fascist thugs. The working class will be lorced to create institu tions and orginisations out of its own struggle local strike committees, city-wide coordinating committees, national conferences representing all those engaged in struggle, support com mittees to organize unorganised layers, defence squads to protect pickets and demonstrations from police violence and semi-fascist thuggery, etc.
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TIME TO CHANGE
JACH WODDIS 30p
Fi the overthrow of that system and the construction of a socialist order. The trouble is, these two outlooks are contradictory, and so Woddis's arguments tond to waffle back and forth in confusion from one position to another. An attempt is made to reconcile these two viewpoints by arguing that the national crisis is due to the domination of the ship of state by the captains of monopoly capitalism, and that only the working-class and a socialist policy can chart a sound course. Thus we get arguments like the following The nation is not the big monopolies, the gencrals, Backingham Palace, Home and Powell. The nation in the people who have built its industries, created its culture, set up their popular organizations and struggled over the years to establish democratic rights and a better life.,. These are the cational gains which falls to the working class to mobitise aB that is best and most progressive in our national life in order to defeat the danger threatening the British people. Ie is the British ruling chiss which, despite its jingoist flag wavine, is renaled as the traitor to the nation. It a the Communist Party and the working class which, by opposing Britain's entry into the European Common Maricef and by putting forward a programme that will challeage the big monopolies, stand out as the real champions of the nation. (p 30 - my emphasist CAPITALIST CLASS What is wrong here is that it completely misunderstands what the idea of 'nation" means, and what part it plays in the political outlook of capitalist society. The "nation" both as a social and political reality, and as a political ider was created by the ptalist class in the course of its coming to power over the various pre capitalist social groups (fcudal landlords, etc.) that ran society before it.
The purpose of the ider of the nation was to bind together all the groups in that society, under the leadership of the pital clars, for the revolutionary struggle that laid the foundations of capitalist class rule and capitalist sociRed Weekly 1 May 1973 Page 6 For example, when the gas workers or power workers go on strike it does hurt millions of ordinary working people who have to go without heat or light. Perhaps hundreds of thous ands of workers are laid off and sutter loss of pay as a result. It is because of this reality that reactionary politicians can make appeals to the "national interest" and to "public opinion". This "national interest" is simply the interest that all the people in the country share if they accept the present way in which our society is organized. The only aiternative to this is the long-term interest, the class interests of the workers and the material interests of many other social groups, that the masses have in the changing of the present organisation of society. So the task of revolutionaries, in the face of reactionary rhetoric about the Nation, is not to succumb to this deception but to expose it - to make clear the fundamental opposition of interests that exists between the different social classes in our society and to explain that the only solution to the needs of the masses is to fight for the interests of the working-class against the "national interest" of the capitalist class.
GOVERNMENT POLICY His lack of clarity on these points leads Woddis into other mistakes and confusions. For example, he often seems to suggest that certain policies followed by the government are due simply to evil intentions and not to the fundamental needs of capitalism in Britain. British big business and its Tory governenent still try to stand outside the mainstream of world politics today, constantly seeking to disrupt the progres that i being made. Above all, by cincine to their obico tive of re-establishing Britain as a world-wide imperi PARLIAMENT On the crucial question of how the destruction of capitalist class power will take place in Britain, Woddis has this to say:
A Socialist Government based on a Parliamentary majority comprising Labour Party MPs supporting euine socialst mensures alone with Communist APr and with the full backing of the majority of the people acting through their political and social organizations will use its new-won political power to carry through the political, social and economic measures needed to сло сарія ако добовисо востана, гр.2т In Woddis's view, an elected Socialist government based upon a Parliamentary majority is to be both the key instrument for introducing socialism and the form of working class rule under socialism. Parliament will be radically reformed, but basically a Socialist Britain will still leave intact all our great ational institutions.
It is important to be very clear on what our dis agreements are with this view. We are not deny ing the importance of Parliamentary activity as a weapon in the dass struggle: of course revolutionaries should take part in Parliamentary elections and attempt to elect MPs. We are not in disagreement about the need for mass struggle to destroy capifalism: the Communist Party plays a big part in the struggles of the working class and Woddis makes if quite clear that there could be no socialist revolution with out mass action. Our disagreement is about the relationship between mass struggle and Parliamentary struggle.
For the Communist Party, mass struggle is neo essary to support the work being carried on inside Parliament by Communist and left MPs. It is their activity, organised as a Socialist Government, that will have the creative job of strip ping away the power of the capitalist class, enacting socialist laws, cte.
For revolutionaries, however, Parliamentary activity is undertaken only in order to support the strugple of the masses — to spread revoluDUAL POWER What this will lead towards & the embryo of a separate working class power lined up against that of the capitalist state: what Lenin and Trotsky termed "dual power" • At each and every stage of the struggle the question will bo urgently posed: do we create our own institu tions to organise our struggle" Or do we put our faith in the existing institutions of the cap italist state? For example: in the event of s local mass strike du we help the local council carry on as usual despite our strike, or do we organise to meet the needs of the working-class and its allies ourself? Do we petition the local Chief Constable for "fairer" treatment from the police, or do we organise our own defence squads?
The final question will be: do we pur our faith in a Parliamentary majority, the civil service of the capitalist state administration, the army and the police to bring about Socialism or du we entrust these tasks to the forces and institunions that the masses have created them selves in the course of struggle, which bave stood the test and learned the lessons of these struggles? Do we urge the masses to subordin ate their institutions to the capitalist state, or do we call on the masses to press forward to take power on the basis of these institutions, and demand that the capitalist class dissolve their historically bankrupt institutions? Our answer to cach and everyone of these questions is clear. But what will comrade Woddis and the Communist Party have to say? There is one good test - we can expect the soundest reply to come from those who have already grasped the problem and are actively engaged in promoting the organination of the struggle of the working-class and its potential allies. While comrade Woddis has a great deal to say about the need to reorganise Parliament he has almost nothing to say about how to better develop the independent organisation of the musses.
(OUTLBOK A vigil will be bald outside the Indonesian Embasay in London on 7 and & May to protest against the continued detention of at least 55,000 political prisoners - most of them held without trial, without fixed sentanoes, and under appelling conditions. Their detention and the legal basis for subsequent and present arrests largely result from the events in 196566 whan General Suharto took power, outlawing the mase Communist Party and massacring tens of thousands of militants.
The vigil will take place from 9 a.m, to 10 p.m. on buth the Monday and Tumday opposite the Indonesian Embessy, 38 Groenor Square, London, W.1. For further datails and information about the situation in Indonesis contact: R. Hibbitt, 6 Crosslaigh Court, West Drive, London, S.W.16. (677 1402 or 267 3348).
About 800 people defied a police ban to take pert in a demonstration in Berne, Switzerland, on 24 March French school students are continuing to organiso in their hundreds of thousen de in strike committees against the conscription lavs, defying the threats of the Prime Minister, Messmer, to restore arder, and smashing all attempts by the fascists to mobilise against them. On 9 April, the doy partiament re nened L0000D workers anistints marchad in united action after the Comunist Party and its powertul trade union federation, the CGT, had been foroed to witch from denourcing the "ultra-left" maverent to supporting it. The Ligue Communisto trunn все pne rourn вепыван and other faroes have called for another major. demonstra ton on 1 May.
Meanwhile, another major confrontation has develope in the nationalised car industry, sparked off by a strugg e over grading by a few hundred largely immigrant workers, Managment and gover ment sem bent on confrontation: 40,000 workers are locked aut, Renault refused to negotate on 20 April, and on 23 April aried secret police were used to clear out workers ocoupying the Peugeot plant at 5t. Etienne. The leaders of the two main union federations, the CGT and CFDT, are likely to be forced to call a national strike; but only after every endeavour by the CP to appeal to the government for negotiations, 10 plants, etc. Cambodian pupper roops leave for ver anorh g liberation forces