V. The State of the Movement

The retreat of revolution that exists today is the result of a complex offensive against the people's movements from both without and within. All of the agencies controlled by the U.S., including NATO, the IMF and the World Bank, as well as various spy agencies, were part of this offensive, as were similar agencies controlled by the Soviet Union. Many of the liberation movements in Asia, Africa and Latin America were systematically destroyed or taken over by imperialism. Throughout the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s many communist parties and revolutionary organizations lost their bearings and collapsed. This was further escalated by the anti-communist campaign orchestrated by Washington and Moscow beginning in 1985.

The description of this particular period as a period of retreat of revolution is based on very objective developments in the world, in particular the developments in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. In those countries decades of economic, social and political problems gave rise to a movement for reform. Unfortunately, while objective conditions cried out for renewal of those societies on the basis of a return to socialist principles and policies, the working class and people rejected renewal. Instead, they opted for disintegration and even more rapid adoption of the policies of capitalist restoration which had created their problems in the first place. The decision of the peoples of those countries to opt for full-blown capitalism instead of socialism ushered in this period of retreat of revolution.

The nature of periods such as this is that they leave their mark on every aspect of the life of a society, and especially on the life of the revolutionary movement and other movements of the people. In Canada, as elsewhere, we can see the results - every movement is weak, disorganized and ineffective. The workers movement and the movement of youth and students are at a very low level; the peace movement is in deep crisis, as is the women's movement. The communist movement is also facing serious challenges to its existence. It cannot honestly be said that any movement in Canada is flourishing at this time.

At the same time, the movement is an objective phenomenon; it emerges independent of anyone's will. In the present conditions, where imperialism is running roughshod over the interests of the peoples, a people's movement is bound to emerge and this is, in fact, beginning to take place. There are movements emerging in opposition to the World Trade Organization and growing globalization of economies. There are movements emerging amongst Aboriginal peoples in defence of their hereditary rights. Everywhere, people are trying to organize themselves to resist the attempts to rob them of all of the gains of the 20th century. If they can find their bearings and figure out what is going on around them, these movements have the potential to play a significant role in organizing the peoples to take the path of revolution and socialism. However, at the present time it would be euphoric to suggest that these movements have the strength or level of organization to make them capable of exerting a significant influence on events or of blocking the preparations of the imperialist powers for another catastrophic world war.

The Workers' Movement

The workers' movement internationally, nationally and locally is at a relatively low level. There are both objective and subjective reasons for this. Objectively, the biggest, most powerful corporations are raking in enormous profits through their manipulation of global markets, speculation in financial markets and bleeding of the public treasuries. A portion of these profits are being utilized to buy off a section of the working class, including a significant section of the industrial working class. This very highly paid section of the working class has a vested interest in preserving the status quo.

In the face of the rapid concentration of capital, which goes by the name of globalization, this privileged section of the working class, or "labour aristocracy", is only interested in preserving its positions of privilege; it has no interest in abolishing the capitalist system. Thus, while millions of the world's dispossessed are struggling against globalization and further impoverishment, the ILO, AFL-CIO, CLC and other trade union organizations are pursuing "side deals" to protect their organizations and positions of privilege.

While the masses of workers in Canada, most of whom are unorganized, are sinking deeper and deeper into poverty and are forced to work several part-time jobs to survive, the major trade unions in Canada are demanding a "bigger piece of the pie" for their own members, or at least those members who are fortunate enough to be left with jobs.

In Manitoba, workers have emerged from a very difficult period of downsizing with a renewed willingness to fight, but their trade unions are unable to provide the necessary leadership in the face of the new "realities" of rapid technological change and globalization.

On the subjective side, the massive imperialist campaign against communism, which led to the collapse of the pseudo-socialist regimes of Eastern Europe and the dismantling of the Soviet Union, is still going on unabated. All of the problems of humanity over the past century are being blamed on communism and socialism, which is presented as unworkable, while capitalism is supposedly eternal. The result of this ideological assault has been to deprive the working class of its own consciousness, its vision for the future, and to leave it disoriented and unable to find its bearings. It can see no alternative to capitalist globalization. Lenin said that without revolutionary theory there can be no revolutionary movement. But the working class does not even embrace its own vision, let alone theory. Therefore, the working class movement is very weak and disorganized. However, as more and more workers are thrown into the ranks of the unemployed and underemployed, they are looking for alternatives and for organization, so this situation is bound to turn around sooner or later.

The People's Movements

The anti-communist offensive has also deprived the various other movements of the people of a sense of purpose and direction. Those movements which based themselves on the bi-polar division of the world and Cold War ideologies, such as various national liberation struggles, were thrown into disarray by the end of the Cold War and many have ended up allying themselves with imperialism.

However, there is a growing movement against globalization and trading blocs, especially in those countries where the peasantry is being wiped out by falling commodity prices. This movement is a very positive development. Essentially it is a movement against monopoly capitalism, a movement for the empowerment of people and a planned economy; in other words, a movement for revolution and socialism. But this movement also lacks organization and in many cases considers disorganization to be a desirable state of affairs. This feature is also due to the relative passivity of the working class on this question. As a result, the dominant outlook of this movement tends to be rather subjective. On the one hand the growing concentration of capital and domination of society by finance capital is presented as somehow representing a new phenomenon, rather than as a constant feature of the 20th century, as described by Lenin. On the other hand, a subjective analysis of the developments in world trade is leading many to conclude that it is the people's movement that is responsible for the failure of the big powers to agree on trade and investment issues. However, in fact, it is the inherent contradictions within the camp of finance capital which make it very difficult or even impossible for them to agree on anything except the need to bleed the people. Thus, illusions are being created both about the aims of the movement and about what organizational measures the people must take to turn the situation around. If these problems are not addressed in a serious manner this movement against global capitalism will fail to achieve its aims.

The peace movement was also thrown into disarray with the end of the Cold War and it has had difficulty finding its bearings for the past decade. It was seriously divided over the issue of so-called "rogue states", the war in Bosnia, the Gulf War and the most recent NATO aggression against Yugoslavia. Sections of the peace movement actually supported imperialist interventions in the name of "humanitarianism" and the defence of human rights, while other sections supported Serb chauvinism in the name of the defence of "socialism" or territorial integrity. Only where issues of principle were put in the forefront, as they were in Manitoba, was the peace movement able to overcome these divisions and unite in action against NATO aggression.

The movement against the anti-social offensive, which was spearheaded by the working class and people of Ontario, was sidelined because of active opposition by the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) and the attempt to convert the movement into an election machine for the NDP. As a result, the momentum of 1996 and 1997 has been lost in Ontario and the working class has lost any initiative that it had on this front. The re-election of the Harris government, with the support of a very significant section of the industrial working class was the result of this betrayal of the movement by the OFL and the NDP, rather than the result of the "strategic voting" campaign of the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW), as some have claimed. In fact, if the working class had followed the call of the CAW, the outcome of the Ontario election would probably have been the defeat of the Harris government.

The movement of youth and students, which was beginning to show some promise during the early and mid-1990s, also appears to have lost much of its momentum. At the beginning of the decade there were many indications that the youth and students of the 1990s would take up the struggle which the youth and students of the 1960s had initiated. Youth and students were a very significant section of every movement and there was an atmosphere of discussion and debate. This corresponded to one of the most severe economic recessions in the post-war era. However, with the recovery of the financial markets and the pervasive "get rich quick" mania of the latter half of the decade, the promise of the 1990s failed to materialize. This is an objective phenomenon. While a minority of students do not see their future in the service of finance capital, the majority do not feel negated by the system. At the same time, the growing section of the youth entering the working class are condemned to a future of part-time, minimum wage jobs under terrible working conditions. Their objective situation places them in contradiction to capitalism, so there is a lot of potential for this section of youth to become more active.

There is no room for sentimentality about the level of the movement of youth and students. For better or for worse, the banner of revolution and socialism is still in the hands of the youth from the 1960s, those who rejected the glitter of the consumer society and dedicated their lives to changing the world. The discussions and debates of the 1960s centred around which ideology was best suited to the advance of humankind, which economic and social system could liberate human beings from being slaves and how people should get organized to make such a future a reality. The youth of the 1990s have not inscribed such goals on their banners; they do not see themselves as the leaders of the entire society. Rather they have restricted themselves to demands for lower tuition fees, for student loan reforms and other narrow aims. Of course, there is a need for day-to-day struggles on economic issues, but if the youth and students do not go beyond the limits of those struggles, if they refuse to become the champions of the most enlightened ideals of humankind, how will they ever be able to lead society forward?

This is also a challenge for the generation of the 1960s. Are we going to leave the scene of history with our mission unaccomplished and with no successors to take up the struggle? Or are we going to rise to the challenge of preparing a new generation of revolutionaries? This problem has plagued the revolutionary movement since the time of the Great October Revolution and, in a very real sense, no one has yet succeeded in solving it. The solution lies not in education and history lessons, but in solving the problems of the movement and ensuring that it retains its momentum. The proletarian revolution differs from all previous social revolutions in that the overthrow of the ruling class is just its beginning and not its end. Passing the banner of revolution on to the next generation is the solution to the problem of continuing the revolutionary movement under the new conditions. For us, this means figuring out how to inspire the youth and students of today with the mission of revolution and socialism, the mission of building a communist society.

The Communist Movement

At the root of the subjective problems in all of the movements of the peoples is the disarray and turmoil in the communist movement. For decades divided along ideological lines and grouped around various international centres, the sudden collapse of many of those centres in the 1989 to 1992 period led to mass desertions from communism by many of those who claimed to be the leaders of the international communist movement. One after another of the ruling communist parties abandoned their pretence of communism and declared themselves to be social-democratic parties. Many other parties split into factions or disappeared completely.

While superficially this collapse appeared to deliver the International Communist Movement a serious setback, in reality it has created conditions for its renewal. The collapse of the so-called centres of communism removed the barriers between various communist and socialist organizations, and forced them to stand on their own feet. It has led to a period of increasing unity in action of the communist and revolutionary forces and increasing discussion of the problems facing the movement.

How to Change the Situation

The pressure against society, against all of the gains of the 20th century, is bound to have an effect on every section of society, including on the level of the movement. One of ways these pressures manifest themselves amongst the revolutionary forces is the tendency for activists to blame themselves for the state of the movement. They think that if only they work harder or try some different tactic, then the situation will turn around. In other words, they internalize the situation and look at it subjectively rather than objectively. Far from blaming themselves and becoming disillusioned and discouraged, the revolutionary forces and all progressive and democratic individuals should take pride in the fact that due to their efforts the movement has survived through this period of human history. Because they chose to carry on against all odds, a future actually exists for the working class and people.

The question then is what can we do to change this situation. This is a complex question because on one level there is absolutely no way in which we can turn the situation around through our own efforts. The objective situation is independent of anyone's will. When it will turn around and revolution will go into flow is impossible to predict. The only certainty is that the situation will turn around sooner or later. Revolution will go into flow, the movement will expand exponentially and the people will be demanding leadership. If that leadership does not come from the progressive and revolutionary forces, then it will certainly come from the reactionary forces.

Therefore, the task facing the revolutionary movement is to prepare itself for the future, to prepare itself to provide leadership to the movement when it does go into flow. This task has a number of aspects to it. First, there is the issue of ideological and theoretical preparation. We have to able to analyze the real world around us, discover the underlying currents in society and divert them in such a way as to achieve the aims of the movement. In other words, we have to become social scientists, capable of summing up the experience of the movement and raising it to the level of theory. We have to be capable of presenting a vision to the society which represents the deepest yearnings of the people.

Secondly, there are political aspects to this preparation. We have to be capable of figuring out how to unite the broadest section of the people and how to isolate the enemy to the maximum. We have to develop methods through which we can be effective in influencing public opinion. Having the most correct answers is useless if we cannot get anyone to listen to us.

Third, there are organizational aspect to this preparation, as well. We have to build those structures and institutions, those arrangements between people, which are capable of surviving any onslaught and providing revolutionary leadership to the movement.

Of course, these tasks present themselves during every period, whether revolution is in ebb or in flow. However, during this period we have the luxury of experimenting. We can afford to make mistakes and learn from them, whereas during periods of revolutionary crisis mistakes may prove to be fatal. So we should take advantage of the present lull between storms to train the future leaders of the revolutionary movement, to give rise to the officer corps of the movement. The easiest part of any revolution is to pick up a gun and shoot it. The hardest part is figuring out when, where and in what direction the guns should be shot.

In Winnipeg we have a very positive and, in some ways unique, situation. For the past 40 years the revolutionary movement has been deeply divided and afflicted with sectarianism. These divisions reflected the divisions in the International Communist Movement and the atmosphere of polemics which existed at the time. However, during the past decade large numbers of supposed communists and revolutionaries have shown their true colours and have openly declared themselves to be social-democrats or worse. This has created conditions for the communist and revolutionary movement to renew itself. This process has been going on here for the past three years and a very healthy atmosphere has been created in which all the revolutionary trends have united to lead the workers movement, the peace movement and various other movements of the people.

History has shown us that without a strong and united revolutionary movement no movement of the people can be very effective. However, it is not enough to provide leadership to the movements of the people. We also have to provide leadership to the revolutionary movement. No movement can develop without its specific problems being solved and the revolutionary movement is no exception. So, we want to begin a discussion about this movement as well. What are its problems, what is its present level and how do we move it forward?

The revolutionary movement has two main problems at this time. The first is its low level of theory. Theory cannot be equated with what someone said or did in the past. It means using Marxism-Leninism as a guide to sum up what is going on under our noses and to use that summation to predict future developments. It means learning the lessons of the revolutionary movement of today. In a very real sense, it means renewing and redefining communism. For communism to renew itself, it must first come to terms with its past. It must go to the roots of the failures of the old communist movement and the fall of socialism in the Soviet Union and elsewhere. It must take this rich experience of the last half-century and raise it to the level of theory. Only then will it be equipped to face the challenges of the 21st century and make itself a relevant force for social change.

The second problem is that while the communist and revolutionary forces are united in action to lead the movements of the people, there is no unity in action to solve the problems of the communist and revolutionary movement. Each organization works to build itself, but there is no unity in action to solve the problems facing the communist movement. This weakness must also be addressed. The communist and revolutionary movement does not belong to any single organization; it belongs to all of us and to all those who believe in revolution and socialism. All such forces have a responsibility to address these problems.