AMERICAN ANTIWAR MOVEMENT FEELS LOSS OF A.J.MUSTE
The loss of A.J.Muste, who died of a heart attack in New York February 11 at the age of 82, will be felt by the antiwar movement in the United States. A pacifist, he was not of the ordinary kind who are against war in general, so long as peace endures, only to join the flag-wavers upon the outbreak of war. Muste maintained his opposition to war after the war began and he was specifically opposed to the war in Vietnam from the very beginning. In this he represented a progressive tendency in the United States -- pacifists who oppose their own government's war aims and war efforts and who engage as active participants in antiwar demonstrations during the war itself.
Muste played a key role in the development of the antiwar forces that took shape in the Fifth Avenue Vietnam Peace Parade Committee of which he was chairman. He played a similar role in launching the Spring Mobilization Committee where he was also chairman.
The forces that came together in this formation represent a rather broad political spectrum, ranging from revolutionary socialists on the left to tendencies that hope to reform the Democratic party.
The issue that brought then together was opposition to Johnson's war in Vietnam. The question of a correct axis for this opposition was determined through debates in the early phases" of the movement that at times became quite heated. As finally agreed on, the axis became the demand for immediate withdrawal of American troops. Muste was influential in settling this but he was greatly helped by the attitude of the Vietnamese and by, the swift rise in popularity of the slogan.
' Repeated attempts were made to introduce a different axis such as "negotiations," but Muste stood against this as not fitting for an American ‘antiwar movement, not the least of the reasons being the ease with which it could be bent to the needs’ of the Johnson administration.
Muste was also insistent upon the need for antiwar demonstrations as opposed, for instance, to dispersed “community" work which could be diverted all too easily into doorbell-ringing for alleged "peace" candidates of the Democratic party, a harmful waste of energy to say the least.
Finally, Muste was for the principle of nonexclusion; i.e., the inclusion of all tendencies in the antiwar movement no matter what their political persuasion. This was in direct opposition to the policy of previous pacifist. movements which, under pressure from Washington, barred such radical groups as the Communist and Socialist Workers parties.
Adherence to these three conditions made it possible to bring together in common demonstrations groupings that hold widely divergent political views. All of them have been able to contribute effectively toward building up actions that none of them could have achieved separately. At the same time not a single grouping has had to make any concessions whatever in the programs they advocate in their own press or the criticisms they may wish to make of each other in their own publications.
Besides maintaining this overall formula, Muste brought his own personal contribution. A man of the highest integrity, each of the groupings knew they could trust him to carry out any commitment he made and also to do what he could to prevent any unduly ambitious grouping from taking advantage of the others. Muste was very firm about maintaining a balance roughly proportional to the forces involved. And with his long background in the radical movement he understood the. views of each of the groupings, what each of them is seeking to achieve and what each of them would consider impermissible.
Due_ to his well-known honesty, Muste was also able to secure financial contributions. that would hardly be given to anyone else. The donors knew that when “‘Muste said the funds were for a certain purpose that was exactly what they were intended for and that was exactly how they would be used.
A.J., as his friends called him, was active to the very day of his death -- exceedingly active. He did not hesitate to fly to Saigon and to Hanoi or to speak at every opportunity to advance the antiwar movement. Despite the physical strain, there was no doubt that he enjoyed moving in this swift stream. And his efforts were yielding the most encouraging results. At the very moment he suddenly had to leave, new perspectives were opening up and. A.J. understood their import.
These were the first signs that the antiwar movement is beginning to have an effect on the thinking of the American workers. The first slight tremors are now visible
in the hitherto solidly welded ranks of the top bureaucrats of the union movement. One of the reasons for the rift between Reuther and Meany is that Reuther is uneasy about remaining so far to the right in face of a possible shift of the rank and file in the unions toward the antiwar movement.
Already looming are a whole set of new problems connected with this impending development. Muste will not be able to contribute to solving these problems but he would be the last one to think that they could not be solved without him. Just the same, his contribution would have been appreciated and those who must wrestle with what comes up in the new phase will often no doubt wish that A.J. were still here.
POEM BY 12-YEAR-OLD GIRL