Re: Lenin's "Left-Wing Communism"

-----Original Message-----
From: Ben Seattle
Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2007 10:46 PM
To: pof-300@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [pof-300] Re: Lenin's "Left-Wing Communism"

Hi Alex,

My comments must be brief right now -- but I will have more to
say soon.

Your letter to Frank has had very positive results.

You have drawn Frank out to discuss some very important questions
and you have positioned yourself for an excellent follow-up.

I will have some suggestions soon.

For now I will offer the opinion that the two key principles
under dispute are these:

(1) Can discussion or debate of post-bourgeois society on SAIC's
website be used to attract attention to SAIC and broaden SAIC's
readership and influence as well as help develop clarity
concerning the principles that will guide the efforts of the
working class?

You made a small error (one easy to correct) in your letter to
Frank which implied that it was necessary for SAIC to take a more
advanced stand than it is capable of at this time. More on that
later.

(2) Is the distinction in principle between:

(a) the rule of the working class and 
(b) the rule of a single organization

an important distinction on which clarity is necessary in order
to rescue the revolutionary movement from the theoretical crisis
which has left it paralyzed?

All the other issues (for example, the study group -- or whether
or not I am honest) are secondary and relatively minor.

> I still don't believe he [ie: Lenin]
> is advocating that this policy be 
> implemented globally

I agree with you.

I have had time to read chapter 5. My reading confirms for me
that Frank is taking Lenin's comments out of context. Frank is
repeating Lenin's words without understanding the circumstances,
or the main content, of Lenin's argument. One issue here is that
Lenin was writing about controversies that were then current.
What has happened in the 90 years since the 1917 revolution (ie:
the rise to power of extremely corrupt and crimial regimes in the
former Soviet Union and China, etc.) demands clarity that Lenin
was unable to give at the time -- as turbulent events were still
unfolding.

I will have more to say this weekend.

All the best,
Ben

-----Original Message-----
From: Alex G.
Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2007 6:41 PM
To: pof-300@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [pof-300] Re: Lenin's "Left-Wing Communism"

I don't have time to thoroughly read "Left-Wing Communism" now,
but I have skimmed through the first 5 chapters and have found this:

Frank may be correct, or partially correct. It does appear indeed

that Lenin opposes these "Left" trends in communism, but Frank
only quoted a very small portion of the whole work, so it's unclear
what this "Left communism" really means.

I've noted that Lenin says that one of the fundamental conditions
for the Bolsheviks' success was that they adopted "iron discipline"
upon taking power. He argues that they would not have lasted more than
a couple of months had this not been the case. This is true, but it
is only because of the extremely unfortunate conditions of Russia at
the time. I still don't believe he is advocating that this policy be 
implemented globally (though I could be wrong).

He also seems to define "Left communism" as supporting bourgeois 
democracy (i.e., representative/parliamentary democracy). If this
is what his definition of "Left communism" is, then I agree that it
is an infantile disorder. At any rate, this development is not 
necessarily relevant to the accuracy of the principles we've been
advocating. We don't have to agree with everything Lenin has ever
said. It is also good to note when and why this pamphlet was
written while judging its merit.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the matter.

Sincerely,
Alex