The most productive thing that American communists can do in this phase is fully embrace the MAGA communist strategy, and build a real anti-Epstein popular coalition. A coalition where we go into the parts of the masses which have been growing disillusioned over Trump 2.0’s betrayals, and unify them with the other popular elements that share a desire to defeat the system behind Epstein. The workers who don’t vote, the politically homeless Gen Z, the libertarians, the former MAGA voters who’ve become alienated from the Republicans; all of these elements can and must be brought under the same popular front.
Communists need to take the initiative in creating this front, and we must also seize the opportunities for working-class leadership that exist in the present moment; besides the anti-Epstein coalition, our most important task right now is to go into organized labor. These tasks require giving the workers an independent means for organizing, where we build institutions that can let the masses gain power outside the duopoly and fight the class war outside the union bureaucracy. Something we must not forget, though, is that when you’re building a popular coalition you cannot try to become its controller. The role of the communists in the anti-Epstein coalition, and in the project at giving the workers newfound strength, isn’t to be the deciders of policy. Our role is to be the ones with the knowledge and skills required for constructing alternative workers power, and for giving the masses a political outlet beyond the duopoly.
This is the lesson that William Z. Foster articulated in 1935, when he put into context the CPUSA’s resolution about building a mass labor party. He pointed out how the resolution stated that
only the Communist Party is the consistent revolutionary class party of the proletariat. This does not mean, however, that a labor party can be of value to the workers only if the Communists are in complete organizational control of it. On the contrary, one of the surest means of defeating the labor party movement would be to build on the basis of Communist control as an imperative condition. That would surely strip the labor party, from the outset, of its character as a mass united-front organization. The labor party must be a real united front on the political field. The labor party must be based upon the broad-mass unions, while the Communists must stimulate the unions to link up with the movement for a mass-labor party.
Foster said this within a historical context that parallels today’s circumstances in key ways. Namely in how by that time, the rise of fascism had forced the revolutionary forces into retreat, like these forces have again been put on the defensive. The party and the broader Comintern responded to fascism by giving up their previous posture, which had taken a more hostile view towards working with non-communists.
This posture, based within the Comintern’s “Third Period” theory, embraced the “dual unionist” strategy in which communists created alternative unions outside the established ones. (Dual unionism is not to be confused with building independent worker orgs, a strategy that we should be pursuing.) When this practice failed, and failed so badly that working-class organizers were now being exterminated in Europe, the communist movement was forced to learn from its errors. Likewise, the communist movement must now learn from its errors again if it wants to have a role in history’s next phase.
After 1934, the Comintern and the CPUSA adopted the Popular Front strategy, where they would ally with the liberals against the fascists. The Popular Front was something that Foster argued against, viewing it as an endorsement of tailing behind one wing in the ruling class; and this view made sense within the context of what would soon happen in the CPUSA, where Earl Browder would liquidate the communist party in submission towards the Democratic Party. But when looking at the full picture of history, the Popular Front is not inherently wrong; it’s only wrong when used as a means for subordinating the workers towards capital.
Our task is to overcome both the modern equivalent of the dual unionist mentality, and to build a popular coalition in the proper way. The way that Foster advocated for with his description of a mass labor party, which represented the correct alternative to Browder’s abuse of the Popular Front.
We need to forsake the infantile left mindset that treats the communist party as if it were the end-all be-all, and disregards anybody who doesn’t want to become a communist proper. This is what the introduction of MAGA communism was about: freeing Marxism from the insular mode of practice that echoes the Third Period, and that’s long kept Marxism weak. When we build a real popular front against the Epstein accomplices, or against the war, we become able to take the movement forward during the present great obstacles we face. Obstacles that parallel the fascist onslaught from the Popular Front era.
At this moment, the globe’s revolutionary forces are in a state of retreat. This is a reality we need to recognize: the U.S. empire is going on the offensive, while those who stand against it have been forced into prioritizing their survival. This is true for imperial target countries like Iran, and it’s true for our own popular movements amid the growing threat of crackdowns. Under conditions where survival is the main thing you need to focus on, the only way to expand your relationship with the masses is by building unified fronts with those who share your most popular goals. By applying the Popular Front strategy in the right way, and maintaining communism’s independence as a political force while taking up the task of building shared resistance.
This looks like using the organizational strength we’ve gained so far to establish relationships between the other anti-Epstein forces, thereby giving these forces a power that they wouldn’t have otherwise. This is what will let us prove ourselves to the masses during a time of retreat, giving us crucial preparedness for the next moment when the power balance shifts.
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