S LIBERAL HELPERS

, 29t,basis of Machismo, and who respects the Machismo of the Eisenachers (Bebel, Liebknecht) with the "progresothersocialists and liberals k the socialist who refrains slve national bourgeoisie." It was the continuing reacfromsubjecting the revolutionary movement to ruthless, tionary policy attacked by Rosa Luxemburg, the policyopen .scientific criticism, is no revolutionary, behind the notorious SPD betrayal of August, 1914. ItIt is necessary, first of all, to have a clear program of was also the policy of the Russian Mensheviks, was takensocialist reconstruction of the world, and to locate the over from the Mensheviks by Zinoviev, Kamenev, Stalin,special form of tasks that defines for each region of the and Bukharin for the 1924-27 period, and resurrected atworld. As that program is developed, the cadres must cut the Comintern Plenum and World Congress of 1935. Itthemselves free from all intellectual, ideological ties to was this social-democratic policy which made Franco'sthe petit-bourgeois and bourgeois liberals, and go victory possible in Spain k with Stalin's support. It wasdirectly to the workers and peasants, the policy which destroyed the French workerS' move-One must organize and educate the workers and ment during the 1935-37 period, to the point that not apeasants to understand the basic princip)es of the way single strike Occurred in France after 1937 until thetheir needs are met through a world-wide network of Hitler occupation. It was the policy which caused theproduction. They must be edu_cated to understand for crushing of the Chinese workers' movement by Chiangthemselves why the capitalist system fails to develop the Kai Chek in 1927, and the butchery of the Indonesianproductive forces. They must be educated to understand Communists in 1965.that better housing, better schools, better medical care, The essential arguments raised to justify this suicidaland so forth are not rights of individual greed, but are policy have remained the same for over a hundred yearsnecessary conditions for increasing the usefulness of the -- from LaSalle, Bebel, Martinov, Stalin, Bukharin, theindividual to society. They must be organized as a politi- PKI's Aidit, or the present-day apologists. No mattercal fighting force around such education, that this policy always leads to the victory of a moreIt is important, of course, to have useful allies. It is repressive capitalist regime, we see self-styled "revoluproperand important to make certain defeffsive alliances tionaries" repeating the same miserable policy over andwith liberals for civil liberties -- provided one makes no over again, and shamelessly using the same algebraiccorrupting (e.g., Popular Front) political alliances with form of arguments used to justify every wretched bloodythe liberals. It is more important to constantly seek out failure before then.united front alliances among various parts of the My preceding remarks on the problem of bourgeoisworking-class forces, and especially with even opponent petit-bourgeois ideology in the "socialist movement pointsocialist groups. However, if these important efforts are to the deep psychological basis for the hysterical error ofused as a pretext to avoid political differences with othersocialists (Fidelistas, CPers); if necessary program and repeating this miserable policy after it has been exposedtactics -- and open scientific criticism .. are avoided in so often by experience., The general argument for the "Popular Front" policythe interest of friendly relations with such groups, thenone is not a revolutionary, is this:One must independently, scientifically detei_i_ine whatprogram, what strategy, what tactics, the working-class (1) We revolutionaries are too few to fight against ourforces require, and serve that program at all costs, even class enemy; we cannot win the workers and peasantssoon enough to deal with the problems facing us today.if that means beginning with an isolated handful. Thatwas the key to Lenin's genius and victory: to reject all (2) We must be "practical;" we must admit our weaknessand therefore dissolve our efforts through comprounprincipledsuppression of criticism, to be willing, ifmises to form a broad, popular movement of thenecessary, to begin as an isolated handful working forthe necessary program, majority of the masses. We must reject "sectarian""elitist" errors by subordinating revolutionary commit-, ment to alliances with semi-revolutionary and bourgeoisliberal"progressive forces."The "Popular Front" Error (3) Later, the revolution; first, now, we must take a smallstep forward by establishing a more progressive regime,The suicidal "popular front" tactical perspective progressive refoi:_is, and so forth.which infects much of the Latin American left is whatmust be criticized and corrected. This is counterrevolutionary thinking. A revolutionThis policy first appeared in the s()-called "Marxian" becomes possible when the broad masses have first lostsocialist movement during the 1860's in Germany, in confidence in all existing liberal and semi-revolutionaryboth LaSall©'s alliance with Bismarck and the alliance of forces, and when an alternative leadership and organi-