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A New Type of Communist Organization October 5, 2003 by RedStar2000 |
This piece is nearly a year old and I somehow overlooked it when I was going back through my "old rubbish".
You could say I began with the question "how do the Leninists do it?" and then tried to do the opposite.
Thus it may strike you as a bit "rough around the edges"...but I definitely think it points in the right direction.
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If Leninism and all its variants is no longer a useful method of communist organization, what, then (to coin a phrase), is to be done?
Not being Lenin, I don't have a fully-developed theory of revolutionary communist organization to put forward. Nevertheless, I think there are minimum standards that must be met if we are to have reasonable hopes for future success.
1. The organization must first of all be communist. Every member must have an understanding of basic Marxist concepts--especially the primary goal of abolishing the capitalist ruling class and building a communist, classless society. New members are admitted on the recommendation of some small number of existing members, who shall vouch for the new member's understanding of Marxism. There should be a probationary period to see if a member is really serious.
2. The communist organization must be ultra-democratic. All substantive decision-making power must be in the hands of the membership at large. Should the organization establish representative organs, these organs serve at the pleasure of the membership and may be modified or abolished at any time for any reason by a simple majority vote of the membership.
3. Freedom of dissent is an absolute requirement for a vital and effective communist organization. Any policy and/or any particular member may be criticized privately (within the organization) or publicly by any other member.
4. Communist leadership shall consist of guidance, advice, consultation, teaching, etc., but shall never under any circumstances be construed or articulated as the power of command.
5. All official positions in the organization are to be filled by secret-ballot elections. No person holding an official position in the organization shall ever receive compensation in excess of the median wage for ordinary workers. Any person that holds an official position in the organization may be removed from that position at any time for any reason by a simple majority vote of the membership.
6. No member of the organization shall ever be compelled to articulate or defend a policy or position with which that member disagrees; nor shall any member ever be required to implement a policy or project with which that member disagrees.
7. Any member may be expelled from the organization at any time for any reason by a 2/3rds majority vote of the membership.
8. The media that the organization may establish shall be open on a reasonable basis to the views of every member of the organization.
Some have referred to this discussion as "the party of the future", but I frankly think we should junk the term "party" altogether. It has numerous unsavory connotations and no advantages that I can think of. I would prefer terms like "league", "association", or "movement". I would also like to work the word "neo" (new) into the name in some way--to distinguish us from all that has gone before under the name of "communism".
I fully understand that all of the Leninists will regard the above as "unserious", "chaotic", "inefficient", and even "unmilitary", blah, blah, blah. Who cares? I'm really interested in what pro-communist individuals who are not in any group at this point think. If such a group existed, would you feel comfortable joining it? And if not, why not?
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First posted at Che-Lives on November 22, 2002
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