LATECOMERS RAISE HIGH THE BANNER oF ; MAO'S THOUGHT
By Joseph Hansen
i -THose. whose rather unenviable task it is to read the London. Newsletter received -& pleasant surprise on opening .the January 14 issue. After long years af silence on the subject, the weekly organ of the Socialist Labour.League displayed. a ‘banner headline » coming out foursquare against imperialism and in favor of the Chinese Revolution.
“Lest anyone ask, "What.'s so wondrous about. that?" it ‘should ve. explained that there - had been growing. doubt as to the real views of the leaders: of the SLL on the char- “acter of the state in China. Besides the record-making silence on China,.:their position on Cuba was ominous. They maintain that Cuba is not a workers state but a bourgeois state headed by a petty—bourgeois representative of capitalist interests, a position that logically points to revision of. the view that China is -O. workers. sibate. .
Having finally, if ‘pelatedly, clarified their position ‘on. China, perhaps they will now, in the interests of consistency, reconsider their untenable position on Cuba.
; It. must be added,. however; that in making “their big leap forward, they gained such momentum as to land in a new error. Unfortunately; -they identify Mao -with the Chinese Revolution. Editor Mike Banda, who signed the article breaking the ice on this subject, followed up in the next issue of The Newsletter with an article in which he even took up the cudgels in behalf of Mao's rejection of a united front with the Soviet Union for the defense of Vietnam -against American imperialisn.
Tim-Wohlforth, an American purveyor of the SLL line, explained in the January 30 issue of his Bulletin that the "international and domestic line of Mao has not been a fully [!] proletarian one." A particular instance , he notes, was "Mao's uncritical support" of the Indonesian | ‘Communist party. "But Mao's ‘line has not been one of capitulation to imperialism either. “It is essentially for this reason that we give him our support."
Wohl forth, who has vied for front place in SLL circles in denouncing Fidel Castro, may draw the obvious conclusion and rally in a similar way behind the Cuban leader, whose -line has not been one of capitulation to imperialism. It would. be premature, however, to credit Wohlforth with being that Logical. .
Much as Banda is to be congratulated for finally making clear that he stands for the defense of thé Chinese Revolution against imperialisn, little in the way of praise can be offered for his two articles so far as new information or analysis ‘of the struggle in China is concerned. From his new viewpoint, of course, this. may be reason for ‘self-congratulation on a certain success ‘in aping the models provided in the official Maoist press which is carefully checked by the censors for” any” evidence of independence of thought.
It is not clear how the SLL leaders and their alert American border guard will adjust their sudden support for Mao with their position in defense of the Hungarian upprising of 1956. In recent months, the SLL leaders have given top priority to the slogan of defense of the Hungarian opposition. They went to extraordinary lengths to make this plain at a demonstration in Liége last October 15 where they held it to be an issue so vital at present as to warrant splitting ‘a united front in defense of Vietnam and they have repeated their view on this in various articles since. [See "The Healy, School of Falsification" in World Outlook January 27.] “ "
A vestige of this position is to be found in a single phrase in Banda's article. Among other light criticisms of Mao, he notes the Chinese leader's “support of the Soviet intervention in Hungary." And that's all on that.
In the very same article, it should .be noted, Banda does indicate a possible way to solve the contradiction in the SLL's position. Speaking of the Red Guards in China, he writes: "As in Hungary they have fearlessly stormed police stations and bar- . racks, communes and factories risking torture and execution to fight the bureaucrats." In brief, the SLE leaders appear to be toying with ‘the idea of picturing Mao as leading
an uprising in China like the one in Hungary in 1956.
If Mao should deliberately lead such an uprising against his own regime, no revolutionary Marxist, naturally, will find any difficulty in giving him full and unconditional support. That The Newsletter offers only "conditional" support. shows that the SLL leaders. are hesitant. about making the plunge.
This hesitation is commendable, ‘for one of the themes in Mao's "propaganda, one of his avowed reasons for organizing the Red Guard movement, was precisely to block the development of a movement like the political revolution headed by revolutionary Marxist workers in Hungary in 1956. In taking this as a conscious aim, Mao shows how well:he understands Stalin's reasons for crushing political opposition in his time in the Soviet Union. This of course is not new. Mao put on a convincing demonstration in 1956 when he rushed to Khrushchev's aid in ‘suppressing the Hungarian workers.
Let us hope that the "cultural revolution" initiated by Mao passes over his head and sets in motion a mass movement that will actually install proletarian democracy in China like that seen in the Paris Commune; but Mao's record in 1956 indicates that it would be wise to leave open the possibility that he will not hesitate to use the most extreme force to try to put it down if this should occur. Khrushchev set the example for him when "de-Stalinization" threatened to get out of: hand in’ Hungary. , The hapless SLL leaders seem doomed to follow in the footsteps of others. Thus, if they would’care to look further down the path they have now taken, they will find an article written by Sam _Marey in the January 20 issue of the Workers World that is quite illuminating. Marcy sings praises to the Chinese Communist party, culminating his hymn with. the standard refrain: "Needless to say, all of this has been achieved under the direct guidance and leadership of Mao Tsé- -tung."
Needless to say, Marcy approves the "cultural revolution"; and not "conditionally," like the queasy Banda, but wholeheartedly and unashamedly as befits one with long experience in appreciating the virtues of a cult. Marcy even answers the "sincere and honest friends"*of China who "view with growing alarm what appears to them to be the extra-legal and extra-governmental activities of the Red Guards..." What do you expect? he asks. There's no cause for alarm; it's Mao's way. Moreover there is no’ solid ground’ for assuming "that the great mass organizations of the Chinese people, their formidable party institutions and the numerous.governmental organs including the army [!] will not loyally support the cultural revolution and the leaders who are at its head."
Even if there were some substance to the worry expressed” by Sincere and honest friends, Marcy considers the matter secondary. The "cardinal fact". is that _"the Chinese C.P. may be fighting the crucial battle for Socialism..." ; Marcy then,comes_to what is for him the essence of the whole struggle: "The alternative to the present leadership and its political line -- it must’ be faced squarely -- isa neo-bourgeois restorationist regime. That is what really is at stake in the cultural revolution in China." Marcy's confidence in the capacity of the workers to develop an independent political line and raise up*a Leninist _ leadership is, as these words Show, absolutely’ nil.
As for critics other than the sincere and honest friends, Marcy coolly lumps together the Socialist Workers party and the Communist party. It is a mistake, says Marcy, to view them as standing poles. apart inasmuch as both parties attack the cultural revolution. "fhe viewpoint from which they launch their attacks is not really what counts What counts is that they have lined up on the other sidé of the class line in. this momentous struggle."
As can be seen Marcy echoes a truly old Stalinist position: "The viewpoint... is not really what counts." All criticisms are alike, no matter what their source; to express a critical viewpoint beyond permitted limits is equivalent to lining up on the other side of the class line. This was the basic réasoning followed by Stalin in going to such extreme lengths as amalgamating the Trotskyists with the fascists, accusing Trotsky of being an "agent of Hitler," and justifying the physical liquidation of all’ political opponents to his dictatorship no matter what the real class nature of their position was. Lok
What is most instructive in this is that Sam Marcy was once a Trotskyist. His differences began when he identified Mao with the Chinese Revolution. His next step was to identify Khrushchev and the Hungarian puppets with the Soviet Union and the Hungarian workers state: His split with the Trotskyist movement over the Hungarian Revolution was consistent with his premises. As he saw it, the alternative to. the Stalinist leadership in Budapest was a "neo-bourgeois restorationist regime." He therefore took the side of
those who decided to suppress in blood the rebellious movement that sought to establish proletarian democracy.
It is obvious that Marcy' s stand on the Hungarian Revolution makes it easy for him to accept, Mao's political aim of blocking the appearance in China of groups resembling the Petofi circle which helped foster the ideas of proletarian democracy that brought the Hungarian workers to initiate a political revolution.
Will the SLL leaders try to be as consistent as the man who blazed the trail for them in their new position? This remains to be seen.
Eagerness to prove himself an apt student of "Mao's thought" is not least of the curiosities in Banda's two articles. One hopes that his evident good intentions will catch the eye of those in charge of passing on applications for membership in the cult. Since. they may not recognize all the subtleties involved, perhaps Banda will appreciate our giving him an assist.
In attacking the imperialist and Stalinist foes of the Chinese Revolution, Banda put World Outlook in. their company. It was not easy for him to find anything that might serve as proof. After searching diligently and overcoming many obstacles, he came up with the following prize quotation:
"The victory Lor the opposition] will be won by those seeking proletarian democracy based on the conquests of the revolution. That victory will...assure China a bi leap forward..." (The bracketed phrase was supplied by the editor of the. Newsletter.
The kind of opposition which the author of the article was talking about is clearly specified in the original. Here it is:
"By suppressing progressive intellectuals and others, Mao may be able for the time being to silence the oppositional mood but he cannot suppress the objective conditions which gave rise to it in the first place. And in the future it will undoubtedly again challenge the bureaucracy. As Teng To put it, 'People who think of themselves as being omniscient, despise the masses' and ‘attempt to win victory by devious means. Such people...will be defeated in the end. ;
"The victory, however, will not be scored: by reaction or by the procapitalists who are undoubtedly to be found in the administration, and in Very high posts at that. The victory will be won by those seeking proletarian democracy _based on the conquests of the revolution. That victory will reinforce those conquests and assure China a genvane uine big leap forward, not only at home but internationally." (World Outlook August 12, p. 15. Emphasis added to facilitate identifying the phrases torn out of context by Banda. )
_The basic position taken by the author of the article is the same as that taken by the Trotskyist movement with regard to the Soviet Union -~ defense of the conquests of the revolution, political opposition to bureaucratic rule, in favor of proletarian . democracy. It is the position formerly shared by the leaders of the SLL. In amalgamating this position with the positions held by the Khrushchevists and the imperialists, Banda gives notice in his own way of abandoning it for a position approaching the one held by Sam Marcy.
Banda's stand becomes all the clearer if one asks why he combed through this _ particular article in search of a phrase that could be bent, twisted or juggled instead of the many other articles on China available in World Outlook, including official positions of the Fourth International. The reason, obviously is its authorship, which Banda does not indicate.
In an editorial note accompanying the article, World Outlook reported that the author , Antonio Farien, based his article on extensive notes which he made in discussions with Peng Shu-tse and that Peng had read the article and made "any necessary corrections." Peng Shu-tse was one of the founding members of the Chinese Communist party and played a leading role in it until after the revolution of 1925-27 when the party became Stalinized and he was expelled on charges of "Trotskyism." One of the founding leaders of the Chinese Trotskyist movement, Peng Shu-tse spent many years in prison . under Chiang Kai-shek. Now living in Europe, he follows events in China very closely as can be judged from the article which Banda honored by applying "Mao's thought" to it.
For his success in this exercise, Banda deserves a suitable award. Our recommendation is one of the 35,000,000 copies of the Selected Works of Mao Tse~tung printed last year. Or, if he came too late to the cult for that, let him be awarded one of the first in the edition of 80,000,000 copies already coming off the press as this year's quota of Maoist culture.