REVOLUTIONARY SOCIALISTS INITIATE DISCUSSION
_ Revolucién Socialista, the theoretical magazine of the Frente de Liberacién Popular [FLP], which is distributed in the underground in Spain, has opened its pages to contributions from other sectors of the anti-Franco movement on questions of programmatic interest. In explaining why a discussion would be of great value, the editors of the new magazine outline. their' own views. We offer some extracts from their declaration: _ ns
We are told that the terms "democracy! and tgoctalism!: are. not contradictory. That depends on what is meant precisely by these terms. In reality, when the parties of the opposition speak. of democracy, they refer to formal democracy, to bourgeois democracy, That is, a regime in which the economic power remains in the hands of the capitalists, although these same capitalists exercize it with other means -- smoother,. more Huropean and, in certain circumstances, more effective -than those utilized by Francoism," .
In contrast to this, Revolucié6n Socialista calls for the socialist alternative, to be achieved along the road of revolution ané the construction of a new state and a new society, "This socialism which we seek will be from the beginning democratic, The historic experience . of the revolutions. of the twentieth century has offered great. successes and magnificent examples, but it has also shown us the dangers of a certain bureaucratic 'state socialism' and its innumerable negative consequences: chauvinism, police repression, 'the cult of the person~ ality,! etc, But the socialist democracy - that we are fighting for is WORKERS DEMOCRACY.
"Workers democracy, workers control, the participation of the working masses in the political and economic decisions of the state, are for us part and parcel of socialism,"
The editors recognize the great difficulties that must be overcome in Spain to achieve victory and build a genuine socialist society. And
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they acknowledge that the FLP is not yet: sufficient for the task, that all those who believe in revolutionary socialism must pool their " forces,
“the FLP therefore calls on all revolutionar socialists individuals or groups, to join our ranks, or to work out together with us in full equality and freedom, the bases for closer and ohocen coLlabora-
ion,
The FLP is aware that many young people in other organizations share the same fundamental views but out of organizational loyalty still: bow to the "democratic" theses of the national leaderships., What is required now is the strengthening and co-ordination of the dispersed revolutionary groups. One of the most important means for this is to work out a political platform together.
"Tn seeking to avoid being a dogmatic party, with a closed and finished 'ideology,' we must not swing to opportunism and ideological confusion. ... Neither self-censorship nor sectarian prejudices} This activity is important because we are convinced that twithout a revolutionary ideology there can be no revolutionary activity,!"
The editors summarize their views on Marxism as follows:
“First of all, we are against any kind of tlabels.! There are many organizations. that call themselves 'Marxistt yet in their activities and their writings they violate the most elementary Marxist principles every day.
"This stated, it appears to be a mere truism to affirm here the © fundamental importance of. Marxism in the entire development of the international workers movement for more than a century. The theory of the class struggle, the role of the state, the necessity to destroy the bourgeois state and construct a state adhering to workers democracy,,. proletarian internationalism in face of imperialism, etc., these programnatic points of all revolutionary organization -- and much else -are fundamental principles of Marxism.
"Tt is certain that in Spain, after twenty years of dictatorship . and censorship, certain prejudices about Marxism exist even in workers circles, But these prejudices arise only from ignorance,
"Tt is certain also that with the triumph of socialism in Russia, and other countries, 'Marxism! has been at times converted into some=. thing like a tstate religion.! And due to this, Marxism is often. confounded with a dogma ; Marxism is confounded with 'Stalinism,!
"Since we consider Marxism to be a scientific method for the analysis of social reality (capitalist as well as socialist, of course), as well as the theory of the conquest of power by the proletariat, it is evident that the majority of the activists of the FLP consider themselves to be Marxists, However, if Marxism means an absolute and. finished theory, fixed, without possibilities of evolution and of
error, then we are not in agreement. But what genuine Marxist can consider Marxism to be a collection or catalog of immutable dogmas?"
The editors state these propositions not to start "sterile and formal debates" but to begin a discussion aimed at the "theoretical clarification necessary for the elaboration of the political platform of the socialist revolution."
Without such a discussion they feel that no advance can be made on the “road to-revolutionary unity."