AMERICAN LEFT HISTORY

This space is dedicated to the proposition that we need to know the history of the struggles on the left and of earlier progressive movements here and world-wide. If we can learn from the mistakes made in the past (as well as what went right) we can move forward in the future to create a more just and equitable society. We will be reviewing books, CDs, and movies we believe everyone needs to read, hear and look at as well as making commentary from time to time. Greg Green, site manager

Tuesday, September 04, 2012

“Workers of The World Unite, You Have Nothing To Lose But Your Chains”-The Struggle For Trotsky's Fourth (Communist) International -Manifesto of the Fourth International-For Defense of the Soviet Union-August 1941

Markin comment:

Below this general introduction is another addition to the work of creating a new international working class organization-a revolutionary one fit of the the slogan in the headline.

Markin comment (repost from September 2010):

Recently, when the question of an international, a new workers international, a fifth international, was broached by the International Marxist Tendency (IMT), faintly echoing the call by Venezuelan caudillo, Hugo Chavez, I got to thinking a little bit more on the subject. Moreover, it must be something in the air (maybe caused by these global climatic changes) because I have also seen recent commentary on the need to go back to something that looks very much like Karl Marx’s one-size-fits-all First International. Of course, just what the doctor by all means, be my guest, but only if the shades of Proudhon and Bakunin can join. Boys and girls that First International was disbanded in the wake of the demise of the Paris Commune for a reason, okay. Mixing political banners (Marxism and fifty-seven varieties of anarchism) is appropriate to a united front, not a hell-bent revolutionary International fighting, and fighting hard, for our communist future. Forward

The Second International, for those six, no seven, people who might care, is still alive and well (at least for periodic international conferences) as a mail-drop for homeless social democrats who want to maintain a fig leaf of internationalism without having to do much about it. Needless to say, one Joseph Stalin and his cohorts liquidated the Communist (Third) International in 1943, long after it turned from a revolutionary headquarters into an outpost of Soviet foreign policy. By then no revolutionary missed its demise, nor shed a tear goodbye. And of course there are always a million commentaries by groups, cults, leagues, tendencies, etc. claiming to stand in the tradition (although, rarely, the program) of the Leon Trotsky-inspired Fourth International that, logically and programmatically, is the starting point of any discussion of the modern struggle for a new communist international.

With that caveat in mind this month, the September American Labor Day month, but more importantly the month in 1938 that the ill-fated Fourth International was founded I am posting some documents around the history of that formation, and its program, the program known by the shorthand, Transitional Program. If you want to call for a fifth, sixth, seventh, what have you, revolutionary international, and you are serious about it beyond the "mail-drop" potential, then you have to look seriously into that organization's origins, and the world-class Bolshevik revolutionary who inspired it. Forward.
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Manifesto of the Fourth International-For Defense of the Soviet Union-
August 1941

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Adopted: August 1941
First Published: October, 1941
Source: Fourth International, New York, Volume II No. 8, October 1941, pp. 229-31.
Author: Jean van Heijenoort (according to Robert Alexander’s History).
Transcribed/HTML Markup: Daniel Gaido and David Walters, December, 2005
Public Domain: Leon Trotsky Internet Archive 2005. You can freely copy, distribute, display and perform this work; as well as make derivative and commercial works. Please credit the Marxists Internet Archive as your source, include the address of this work, and note the transcribers and proofreaders above.

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The following manifesto, issued by the Executive Committee of the Fourth International, is reprinted From the International Bulletin Press Service.

The Soviet Union is at war! The Soviet Union is in mortal danger! In his desperate struggle to open the world to German imperialism, Hitler has turned to the east, hoping by a quick victory to strengthen his military and economic positions. At this hour of supreme danger the Fourth International proclaims what it has constantly said to the workers: Defend the U. S. S. R.! The defense of the Soviet Union is the elementary duty of all the workers true to their class.

We know very well—better than anyone—that the present government of the U.S.S.R. is very different than the Soviet power of the first years of the revolution, but we have something to defend and we defend it against the class enemy independently of all the misdeeds of its present leaders. The Soviet workers accomplished a tremendous revolution which changed the face of a vast country. They stood alone, they lacked the forces to realize all their hopes, and they had to tolerate on their necks vile usurpers. But now Hitler comes to annihilate everything. That, neither the peoples of the U. S. S. R. nor the world working class can permit.

How to defend the U. S. S. R.? To answer this question we must before all know why the first workers’ state, the first experiment in proletarian power, stands at the edge of the abyss. If a catastrophe is possible at this date, after almost a quarter century of survival, the cause lies above all in the internal degeneration of the workers’ state, now ruled over by a parasitic bureaucracy.

Stalinism Responsible for the Catastrophe

A little more than twenty years ago, the Soviet Union came through the civil war, having victoriously repulsed the attacks of the imperialist brigands of the whole world. If today the Soviet Union has been plunged into the most terrible of wars, if today its very existence is threatened, the responsibility for its plight falls first and foremost upon Stalin. The second imperialist war and the attack against the Soviet Union could occur only after the revolutionary forces of the world proletariat, and above all its European section, had been disorganized by the Stalinized Comintern.

The Soviet Union suffered a defeat each time that the workers’ ranks were smashed as a result of the treacherous policies of Stalinism. The Soviet Union suffered a defeat when the Chinese revolution was strangled by Chiang Kai-shek, protégé of Stalin, in 1927; when the Soviet bureaucracy crushed the Left Opposition, exiling and exterminating the flower of the Bolshevik party; when Hitler came to power in Germany, thanks to the fatal policy of the German communist party inspired directly by Stalin. The Soviet Union suffered a defeat when Stalin sold the French working class to the bourgeoisie as payment for a military pact; when the heroic Spanish Revolution was led to its defeat by Stalin’s agents, who fought for the maintenance of private ownership of the land and factories; when the horrible Moscow trials, staged by Stalin, alienated the sympathies of workers from the Soviet Union.

The present attack against the Soviet Union by Hitler is the last link in a large chain of defeats suffered by the forces of the working class throughout the whole world, and the responsible author of these defeats was the Comintern, acting under orders of the Soviet bureaucracy. Hitler is himself a product of the decline of the proletarian revolution, carried through by the great saboteur whose name is Stalin.

We have often stated: without a Stalin there could be no Hitler! Over the present decadence reigning in Europe, with its untold misery for the working masses and their great hopes lost, moves the black shadow of Stalin, the great organizer of working class defeats!

The Bureaucracy’s Foreign Policies

The Soviet Union remained isolated as a result of the betrayal by the Comintern of the revolutionary interests of the working class. The ruling bureaucrats endeavored to avoid the consequences of their crimes towards the workers by effecting diplomatic combinations with imperialist powers. But in the background of destroyed working class forces, they could go only from failure to failure. The disarray of the Kremlin, face to face with the results of its own policies, was never more apparent than on the dawn of June 22, when Hitler opened his campaign against the Soviet Union.

The foreign policies of Stalin during the last few years were in no way superior to those of Chamberlain. And for the same reason: they were both the policies of weakness. After the Munich pact Chamberlain promised the world a “new era of peace.” This “era” lasted less than a year. After the German-Soviet pact Molotov boasted that the agreement between the “two peoples,” Russian and German, would guarantee unlimited peace to the Soviet Union. With the military smashing of France and the German advances into the Balkans, Stalin found it necessary to give Hitler a series of “warnings,” which did not exceed the limits of small diplomatic maneuvers.

However, a warning which is unaccompanied by real force changes into its opposite, that is to say, instead of restraining the enemy, it incites him to proceed further. By all these acts Soviet diplomacy demonstrated only one thing: that the Kremlin was mortally afraid of war. That could only encourage Hitler to undertake decisive action. To what extent the Soviet leaders were victims of their own policies is shown by the speeches of Molotov and Stalin. All that the “genius-like leadership” could think of saying in the face of the Hitler attack consisted of pitiful jeremiads about the dishonesty of the aggressor.

Stalin Stifles the Revolutionary Struggle

The war can only intensify the profoundly conservative policies of the bureaucracy. Internally Stalin has already strengthened the mechanism of police dictatorship at the expense of military interests. The bureaucracy lets it be known in this way that it may be willing to defend the Soviet Union but it is first and foremost concerned with defending its privileged position in the country. Externally the principal concern of the bureaucracy is to appear like a genuine member of the Anglo-American imperialist camp. It is in the name of this program that the Kremlin maintains an unbroken silence on everything which might call to mind the proletarian revolution.

The country where “socialism has finally triumphed” is at war, but the very word socialism has disappeared from the vocabulary of spokesmen of the bureaucracy. The Kremlin, with its mercenary writers, revives all the patriotic memories of Czarist Russia. It does not even dare recall to the Soviet masses the great events of the civil war. There are two reasons for this: first, not to disturb Churchill with burning memories and new fears, and second, because it is itself in mortal fear of the revolutionary traditions of the masses. The Communist International plays dead. In the countries of the “democratic” camp, the Stalinist parties made an instantaneous about-face. Their already long experience in this sort of drill step made it possible to carry it out without the slightest incident.

The immediate ally of the Soviet Union is the German working class which has the same enemy directly in front of it: German imperialism. But even now, when pressed by the armies of Hitler, the bureaucracy dares not appeal to it. The bureaucracy has appealed to the German people, including “honest National-Socialists,” in a manifesto which contains not the slightest proletarian note but is filled instead with pitiful and ridiculous lamentations.

For the destruction of German imperialism, proletarian internationalism is a far more powerful force than any aid which Moscow may be able to get from London or Washington. Lenin often repeated that it was that force which prevented the imperialists from strangling the Russian revolution during its heroic days. But in that period the Soviet leaders knew how to speak to the workers in a revolutionary tongue.

The present Kremlin leaders can only whine to German soldiers in the language of Russian nationalism; they are completely incapable of opening a revolutionary perspective to them. It identifies its war aims with those of Churchill and Roosevelt, and thereby serves only to strengthen German nationalism and in the end to help Hitler. It calls upon the English and American workers to support their imperialists and thereby cannot fail to tie the German workers to their leaders as well. The stifling of the revolutionary struggle in one camp makes its development more difficult in the other. The bureaucracy conducts the war with its own characteristic methods. They are the methods of a profoundly conservative caste of parvenus, which grew up from and was nourished by the decline of the revolution. The leaders in the Kremlin have many times justified the long series of their betrayals of workers’ struggles on the grounds of the defense needs of the Soviet Union. In reality, thanks to the Stalinized Comintern, the working class was defeated and the Soviet Union found itself more isolated than ever. Today the results are obvious. Yesterday the Kremlin fawned upon the Germany of Hitler just as today it grasps desperately at Churchill and Roosevelt. What has been achieved by this? Where has it led?

The Spirit of the Soviet Masses

The balance sheet of Stalinist policy shows an enormous deficit. The present catastrophe is only the bankruptcy of this whole policy. But if at the decisive hour the leaders in the Kremlin could only reveal their confusion, the Soviet masses, on the other hand, were able to demonstrate their courage and daring. The first weeks of war have shown the devotion and spirit of sacrifice of the Soviet troops. That is the fundamental fact of the campaign up to this time.

The Russian soldiers have been able to oppose the terrifying methods of German militarism with boldness and initiative. They do not fight “for Stalin,” for the hated bureaucrats who oppress them, but they understand fully the difference between Stalin and Hitler. They are aware that Hitler did not enter upon this formidable campaign in order to liberate the country from the parasitic bureaucracy; that he comes on the contrary to complete the latter’s task, to put a definitive end to a revolution already deeply wounded. The Soviet people, by its ferocious struggle, have shown the world that there still remains something to defend and that it expects to defend it to the end.

Despite all the crimes of the bureaucracy, the October revolution, which brought a new life to all the peoples of Russia, is not yet dead. The worker and collectivized peasant are fully aware of what a Hitler victory would mean: seizure of the economy by the German trusts and cartels, transformation of the country into a colony, the end of the first experiment in planned economy outside the profit system, the end of all hopes. They do not want to allow that.

Tasks of the Working Class

The Fourth International has unceasingly proclaimed what the Soviet worker has grasped by his class instinct: unconditional defense of the Soviet Union!We defend the Soviet Union regardless of the betrayals by the bureaucracy and despite these betrayals. We do not demand this or that concession by the Stalinist bureaucracy as a condition for our support.

But we defend the Soviet Union with our own methods. We represent the revolutionary interests of the working class and our weapon is the revolutionary class struggle. The imperialist allies of the Kremlin are not our allies. We go on with the revolutionary struggle, even in the “democratic” camp.To support the imperialist masters of England or the United States would mean to aid Hitler in maintaining his hold over the German workers. Our stakes are wagered on the revolution, and the best method of assisting the revolutionary future of the German workers is to conduct and intensify working class struggles in the opposing camp.

In Germany and in the European countries occupied by German troops, defense of the Soviet Union means directly the sabotage of the German military machine. German workers and peasants in soldiers’ uniforms, the Fourth International calls upon you to pass over with your arms and equipment into the ranks of the Red Army! German workers and peasants now in the factories, on the railroads, and on the farms, and enslaved peoples of Europe, paralyze in every possible way the march of German militarism! You will not only by this means defend the Soviet Union, but you will also be preparing your own liberation, not the “liberation” which Churchill or Roosevelt holds in store for you, but your own, whereby you will be able as free men to build a new world.

In the Soviet Union, the Fourth International calls upon the Soviet workers to be the best soldiers at their combat stations. Our organization lives upon the teachings of the leader of the Red Army in the difficult first years of the revolution, Leon Trotsky, assassinated by the Kremlin’s hangman, but whose memory must now be recurring evermore frequently, in this hour of supreme danger, to the minds of all the former participants in the civil war. His example and the traditions of that great period must now be inspiring the soldiers, sailors and aviators!

But the miracles of heroism of those days were rendered possible only because the workers and peasants clearly understand what they were defending. In order to repeat these miracles of daring, which are so necessary if Hitler is to be defeated, the best weapon is the restoration of the democracy of the Soviets. War does not put an end to our struggles against the bureaucrats but, makes it more imperious than ever.

For the defense of the Soviet Union, form soviets of workers, peasants, and soldiers! That is our rallying cry.

But our struggle against the bureaucracy remains subordinated to the war against imperialism. That is true on the political plane, where we consider our criticism of the parasitic oligarchy as the method of best arming the country against imperialism, and it is also true on the military plane where practical actions against the bureaucracy are subordinated to the needs for defense of the country. Under wartime conditions all the problems of the regime are posed more sharply than ever in the minds of the Soviet workers. The first task of the present hour is the formation of cadres and the organization of the Soviet section of the Fourth International.

Stalinism Is Doomed!

In a more or less brief period, the bureaucratic regime, now living on a compromise between the proletariat and imperialism, cannot survive the war. Even in case of victory, the days of the Stalinist clique are numbered. A victory, even in the form of prolonged resistance, would awaken all the hopes of the Soviet masses, and would destroy the accumulated apathy engendered by the years of defeats. The workers and collective farmers would increasingly oppose the arbitrary actions of bureaucrats. Besides, the failure of the German armies would inevitably produce what Stalin dreads the most—workers’ insurrections throughout all Europe. On the burning terrain of the revolution, Stalin would lose his footing and follow Hitler straight into the abyss.

The turmoil of war now resounds through the whole world. All the imperialists are working feverishly for the annihilation of humanity. A tremendous wave of reaction is sweeping before it all the liberties and all the conquests of yesterday. Hitler, Churchill and Roosevelt are eager rivals in this terrible contest. Stalin seeks only to conform to the “democratic” robbers and his greatest fear is that he may let slip some revolutionary word.

As for us, we can well continue to be optimists. Within the depths of the masses a revolt is ripening which nothing will be able to restrain. The first imperialist war of 1914-1918 now appears as a simple rehearsal for the present war, and the revolutionary whirlwind which will come out of the present war will dwarf the revolutionary crises of 1917-1920. The resistance of the Soviet masses to the German advance cannot but hasten the explosion. That is why all the peoples of the world must support that resistance, each according to the particular methods which we have indicated.

Defend the Soviet Union and you thereby defend yourselves, you will hasten the hour of your liberation!

For defense of the Soviet Union!

Long live the World Socialist Revolution!

Executive Committee of the Fourth International

August, 1941.

Reflections On Labor Day 2012 Rally In Boston

Click on the headline to link to a Boston IndyMedia entry for the Boston Labor Day 2012 Rally and March.

Markin comment:

Leftists in the United States have worked for several generations now to link American working class solidarity with the international working class through an acceptance of May 1st as our as common international labor holiday. Over the past several years we have had, in Boston (and elsewhere), some limited successes in that direction on May Day through the struggles around immigrations policies that effect a fair portion of the local labor movement particularly in the Latino community. However we are still rolling the rock up the hill and this year Labor Day continued to surpass May Day as the day when the local organized labor movement made itself heard.

The following are some random notes and observations from the Labor Day program held in downtown Boston on the morning of September 3, 2012 at the Parkman Bandstand (followed by a march to Copley Square but the bulk of the program was centered at the bandstand) sponsored by a coalition of labor organizations, notably the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), minority community organizations, and pro-labor outreach organizations.
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In a sense Labor Day 2012 (and previous Labor Days over the past several years) saw two different approaches to getting labor’s message heard (although, unfortunately, in the end not two different strategies). One approach, the tradition approach over the past few decades, especially in election years, was the annual Greater Boston Labor Council sponsored breakfast where every labor bureaucrat aspiring bureaucrat, and their hangers-on showed up to profusely pledge fealty to the labor movement and its friends. (I will leave the who the friends are question to your imaginations but the keynote speaker this year one Elizabeth Warren, Democratic Party candidate for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts.) This element long ago gave up the usual street parade showing labor’s muscle that was a staple of long past Labor Days.

And then we had the rally (and march) at Boston Common which reflected a different part of the labor movement for the most part than the “labor aristocracy” that showed up at the breakfast. For one thing the several hundred (maybe a thousand), mostly Latinos, who showed up on the Common would have been hard-pressed to buy the ticket to the breakfast and if they had been able to afford such a thing would have felt left out there. The vast majority at the rally although in presentable working class dress and who had the look, the worried look, of solid working people were “los pobres,” the unskilled or semi-skilled labor, many showing the marks of recent immigration, who do the hard cleaning and fixing of office buildings, of hospitals and of college campuses in the Greater Boston area.

Where the two events come together though is the politics, or rather lack of politics, independent politics. We know, or can imagine, who and what showed up at the breakfast, every fast-talking Democrat from Elizabeth Warren on down professing “concern” for the middle-class (read: American bourgeois political speak for workers) and calling for votes, money and volunteers. And getting them. But the rally also had it fair share of bourgeois politicians, highlighted by Joe Kennedy who is running for Barney Frank’s old congressional seat. The different, since SEIU (and maybe the others like UNITE and Local 1199) had already announced its support to Barack Obama last year, was that “gringo” politicians like Kennedy felt compelled to speak a “pocas palabras en espanol” or have their words translated reflecting the audience in front of them. We have our work cut out for us.
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One would have thought that given the rise of the Occupy movement last year and it emphasis on solidarity with the poor, people of color, and immigrants that there would have been some reference to that movement from the platform or in the crowd. However not one speaker that I heard uttered anything about that moribund movement. And while there were a few references to the now ubiquitous 99% (not the same thing as Occupy) and some other related slogans on signs (and SEIU shirts) it was clear that this was not an Occupy or leftist-inspired event.

The official slogans (si, se puede, “yes, we can” mainly) and plaintive plea for some amorphous good jobs and a fair shake were purposefully sub-political reflecting a specific political tactic not to embarrass the Democrats with demands (see Occupy was not the only operation that knew the “dangers” of demands). That hard fact should give us pause when leftists reflect on the disconnect between what we are trying to accomplish and this part of our natural audience. We, moreover, clearly need to win over more Spanish-speakers, probably students in ones and twos from the campuses at first, to be able to write materials in that language in order to get our message across and to create a common bilingual political vocabulary just to be able to gain entry into this important area of work.

RALLY IN SUPPORT OF ALLEGED WIKILEAKS WHISTLEBLOWER PRIVATE BRADLEY MANNING AT THE DOWNTOWN BOSTON OBAMA HDQTRS. –SEPTMEBER 6, 2012-2:00 PM

Click on the headline to link to Downtown Boston BM Rally Facebook event page.

RALLY IN SUPPORT OF ALLEGED WIKILEAKS WHISTLEBLOWER PRIVATE BRADLEY MANNING AT THE DOWNTOWN BOSTON OBAMA HDQTRS. –SEPTMEBER 6, 2012-2:00 PM

DATE: THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 6, 2012

TIME: STARTING AT 2:00 PM (People will be leafleting downtown from about 11:00 AM and we will stay until about 5:00 PM so join us anytime you can to show your solidarity.)

PLACE: DOWNTOWN BOSTON OBAMA HEADQUARTERS AT 77 SUMMER STREET (NEAR THE DOWNTOWN CROSSING STOP ON THE RED AND ORANGE LINES)

The Boston Smedley Butler Brigade and Samantha Smith Chapter- Veterans for Peace, the Boston Bradley Manning Support Network , Bradley Manning Square of Somerville Committee and other social activists and concerned citizens support the call by the National Bradley Manning Support Network and others to rally nationwide at local Obama headquarters on Thursday September 6, 2012, the day President Obama is scheduled to accept the Democratic Party nomination of president, to call for freedom for alleged WikiLeaks whistleblower, Army Private First Class Bradley Manning. We also will be calling on the president to use his constitutional authority to pardon Private Manning now.

Contact: Al Johnson-Event Coordinator -alfredjohnson34@comcast.net
or Pat Scanlon (VN 69’)-Coordinator, VFP Chapter 9, Smedley Butler Brigade patscanlonmusic@yahoo.com

FREE BRADLEY MANNING-PRESIDENT OBAMA PARDON BRADLEY MANNING NOW!

Check our Facebook event page –Downtown Boston Bradley Manning Support
Rally-September 6th- http://www.facebook.com/events/439879979398064/

Call for action at Obama 2012 offices nationwide Sept. 6th during DNC

The Bradley Manning Support Network, Afghans For Peace and SF Bay Iraq Veterans Against the War Call for Nationwide Actions at local Obama Campaign Offices September 6th 2012 during the Democratic National Convention! Free Bradley Manning!

Since Army PFC Bradley Manning’s arrest in May 2010 for allegedly sharing the “Collateral Murder” video and other evidence of war crimes and government corruption with the whistle-blower website WikiLeaks, progressives and human rights activists have been asking, “Why isn’t President Obama stepping in to help Bradley?”

After all, it was President Obama who in May 2011 declared with regards to protests in the Middle East,

“In the 21st Century, information is power; the truth cannot be hidden; and the legitimacy of governments will ultimately depend on active and informed citizens.”

On Thursday, August 16, US military veterans in Portland OR, Oakland CA, and Los Angeles CA, occupied Obama 2012 campaign offices and faxed a letter of demands to the Obama campaign’s central office. Those letters began:

As those who have spent years serving our country, we have faith that as Commander-in-Chief, President Obama will do the right thing in answering our request.

The letter went on to list the following demands:

That President Obama retract and apologize for remarks made in April 2011, in which he said Bradley Manning “broke the law.” Because President Obama is commander-in-chief, this constitutes unlawful command influence, violating Article 37 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), and prevents Bradley from receiving a fair trial.

That President Obama pardon the accused whistle-blower, taking into consideration his 800 days of pretrial confinement. UN torture chief Juan Mendez called Manning’s treatment “cruel and inhuman,” as it included nine months of solitary confinement at Quantico despite Brig psychiatrists recommending relaxed conditions.

The Bradley Manning Support Network maintains hope that justice will prevail and that President Obama can be the vehicle of change on this issue, but first he needs to hear loud and clear from veterans and civilians across the country that the American people want amends for the unlawful torture of Bradley Manning, and believe he should be freed.

Organizers of the August 16 West Coast actions are now urging others to join them in a nationwide effort to hold actions at many more local Obama campaign offices on September 6th, the day of candidate’s nomination acceptance speech. We want to share messages of support for Bradley with Obama campaign offices from coast to coast.

Please contact emma@bradleymanning.org for more information about attending and/or organizing an event.

Labor donated

From The Pens Of Karl Marx And Friedrich Engels-Their Struggles To Build Communist Organizations-The Early Days- Draft Rules of the Communist League (1847)

Click on the headline to link to the Marx-Engels Internet Archives for an online copy of the article mentioned in the headline.

Markin comment:

The foundation article by Marx or Engels listed in the headline goes along with the propaganda points in the fight for our communist future mentioned in other posts in this space. Just below is a thumbnail sketch of the first tentative proceedings to form a communist organization that would become a way-station on the road to building a Bolshevik-type organization in order fight for the socialist revolution we so desperately need and have since Marx and Engels first put pen to ink.
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Marx/Engels Internet Archive-The Communist League

A congress of the League of the Just opened in London on June 2, 1847. Engels was in attendance as delegate for the League's Paris communities. (Marx couldn't attend for financial reasons.)

Engels had a significant impact throughout the congress -- which, as it turned out, was really the "inaugural Congress" of what became known as the Communist League. This organization stands as the first international proletarian organization. With the influence of Marx and Engels anti-utopian socialism, the League's motto changed from "All Men are Brothers" to "Working Men of All Countries, Unite!"

Engels: "In the summer of 1847, the first league congress took place in London, at which W. Wolff represented the Brussels and I the Paris communities. At this congress the reorganization of the League was carried through first of all. ...the League now consisted of communities, circles, leading circles, a central committee and a congress, and henceforth called itself the 'Communist League'."

The Rules were drawn up with the participation of Marx and Engels, examined at the First Congress of the Communist League, and approved at the League's Second Congress in December 1847.

Article 1 of the Rules of the Communist League: "The aim of the league is the overthrow of the bourgeoisie, the rule of the proletariat, the abolition of the old bourgeois society which rests on the antagonism of classes, and the foundation of a new society without classes and without private property."

The first draft of the Communist League Programme was styled as a catechism -- in the form of questions and answers. Essentially, the draft was authored by Engels. The original manuscript is in Engels's hand.

The League's official paper was to be the Kommunistische Zeitschrift, but the only issue produced was in September 1847 by a resolution of the League's First Congress. It was First Congress prepared by the Central Authority of the Communist League based in London. Karl Schapper was its editor.

The Second Congress of the Communist League was held at the end of November 1847 at London's Red Lion Hotel. Marx attended as delegate of the Brussels Circle. He went to London in the company of Victor Tedesco, member of the Communist League and also a delegate to the Second Congress. Engels again represented the Paris communities. Schapper was elected chairman of the congress, and Engels its secretary.

Friedrich Lessner: "I was working in London then and was a member of the communist Workers' Educational Society at 191 Drury Lane. There, at the end of November and the beginning of December 1847, members of the Central Committee of the Communist League held a congress. Karl Marx and Frederick Engels came there from Brussels to present their views on modern communism and to speak about the Communists' attitude to the political and workers' movement. The meetings, which, naturally, were held in the evenings, were attended by delegates only... Soon we learned that after long debates, the congress had unanimously backed the principles of Marx and Engels..."

The Rules were officially adopted December 8, 1847.

Engels: "All contradiction and doubt were finally set at rest, the new basic principles were unanimously adopted, and Marx and I were commissioned to draw up the Manifesto." This would, of course, become the Communist Manifesto.
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Markin comment on this series:

No question that today at least the figures of 19th century communist revolutionaries, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, are honored more for their “academic” work than their efforts to build political organizations to fight for democratic and socialist revolutions, respectively, as part of their new worldview. Titles like Communist Manifesto, Das Kapital, The Peasants Wars In Germany, and the like are more likely to be linked to their names than Cologne Communist League or Workingmen’s International (First International). While the theoretical and historical materialist works have their honored place in the pantheon of revolutionary literature it would be wrong to neglect that hard fact that both Marx and Engels for most of their lives were not “arm chair" revolutionaries or, in Engels case, smitten by fox hunts. These men were revolutionary politicians who worked at revolution in high times and low. Those of us who follow their traditions can, or should, understand that sometimes, a frustratingly long sometimes, the objective circumstances do not allow for fruitful revolutionary work. We push on as we can. Part of that pushing on is to become immersed in the work of our predecessors and in this series the work of Marx and Engels to create a new form of revolutionary organization to fight the fights of their time, the time from about the Revolutions of 1848 to the founding of various socialist parties in Europe in the latter part of the 19th century.
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The Communist League

Draft Rules of the Communist League [332]
Working Men of All Countries, Unite!

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Written: June 1847;
Source: MECW Volume 6, p. 585;
First published: Gründungs dokumente des Bundes der Kommunisten (Juni bis September 1847), Hamburg, 1969;

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SECTION I
THE LEAGUE
Art. 1. The League aims at the emancipation of humanity by spreading the theory of the community of property and its speediest possible practical introduction.

Art. 2. The League is divided into communities and circles; at its head stands the Central Authority as the executive organ.

Art. 3. Anyone who wishes to join the League is required:

a. to conduct himself in manly fashion;
b. never to have committed a dishonourable action;
c. to recognise the principles of the League;
d. to have acknowledged means of subsistence;
e. not to belong to any political or national association;
f. to be unanimously admitted into a community, and
g. to give his word of honour to work loyally and to observe secrecy.

Art. 4. All League members are equal and brothers, and as such owe each other assistance in every situation.

Art. 5. All members bear League names.

SECTION II
THE COMMUNITY
Art. 6. A community consists of at least three and at most twelve members. Increase above that number will be prevented by division.

Art. 7. Every community elects a chairman and a deputy chairman. The chairman presides over meetings, the deputy chairman holds the funds, into which the contributions of the members are paid.

Art. 8. The members of communities shall earnestly endeavour to increase the League by attracting capable men -and always seek to work in such a way that principles and not persons are taken as guide.

Art. 9. Admission of new members is effected by the chairman of the community and the member who has introduced the applicant to the League.

Art. 10. The communities do not know each other and bear distinctive names which they choose themselves.

SECTION III
THE CIRCLE
Art. 11. A circle comprises at least two and at most ten communities.

Art. 12. The chairmen and deputy chairmen of the communities form the circle authority. They elect a president from among themselves.

Art. 13. The circle authority is the executive organ for all the communities of the circle.

Art. 14. Isolated communities must either join an already existing circle authority or form a new circle with other isolated communities.

SECTION IV
THE CENTRAL AUTHORITY
Art. 15. The Central Authority is the executive organ of the whole League.

Art. 16. It consists of at least five members and is elected by the circle authority of the place where it is to have its seat.

SECTION V
THE CONGRESS
Art. 17. The Congress is the legislative authority of the League.

Art. 18. Every circle sends one delegate.

Art. 19. A Congress is held every year in the month of August. The Central Authority has the right in important cases to call an extraordinary congress.

Art. 20. The Congress in office decides the place where the Central Authority is to have its seat for the current year.

Art. 21. All legislative decisions of the Congress are submitted to the communities for acceptance or rejection.

Art. 22. As the executive organ of the League the Central Authority is responsible to the Congress for its conduct of its office and therefore has a seat in it, but no deciding vote.

SECTION VI
GENERAL REGULATIONS
Art. 23. Anyone who acts dishonourably to the principles of the League is, according to the circumstances, (removed) either removed or expelled. Expulsion precludes re-admission.

Art. 24. Members who commit offences are judged by the (supreme) circle authority, which also sees to the execution of the verdict.

Art. 25. Every community must keep the strictest watch over those who have been removed or expelled; further, it must observe closely any suspect individuals in its locality and report at once to the circle authority anything they may do to the detriment of the League, whereupon the circle authority must take the necessary measures to safeguard the League.

Art. 26. The communities and circle authorities and also the Central Authority shall meet at least once a fortnight.

Art. 27. The communities pay weekly or monthly contributions, the amount of which is determined by the . respective circle authorities. These contributions will be used to spread the principles of the community of property and to pay for postage.

Art. 28. The circle authorities must render account of expenditures and income to their communities every six months.

Art. 29. The members of the circle authorities and of the Central Authority are elected for one year and must then either be confirmed anew in their office or replaced by others.

Art. 30. The elections take place in the month of September. The electors can, moreover, recall their officers at any time should they not be satisfied with their conduct of their office.

Art. 31. The circle authorities have to see to it that there is material in their communities for useful and necessary discussions. The Central Authority, on the other hand, must make it its duty to send to all circle authorities such questions whose discussion is important for our principle.

Art. 32. Every circle authority and failing that the community, even every League member, must, if standing alone, maintain regular correspondence with the Central Authority or a circle authority.

Art. 33. Every League member who wishes to change his residence must first inform his chairman.

Art. 34. Every circle authority is free to take any measures which it considers advisable for the security of the circle and its efficient work. These measures must, however, not be contrary to the general Rules.

Art. 35. All proposals for changes in the Rules must be sent to the Central Authority and submitted by it to the Congress for decision.

SECTION VII
ADMISSION
Art. 36. After the Rules have been read to him, the applicant is asked by the two League members mentioned in Art. 9 to reply to the following five questions. If he replies “Yes”, he is asked to give his word of honour, and is declared a League member.

These five questions are:

a. Are you convinced of the truth of the principles of the community of property?
b. Do you think a strong League is necessary for the realisation of these principles as soon as possible, and do you wish to join such a League?
c. Do you promise always to work by word and deed for spreading and the practical realisation of the principles of the community of property?
d. Do you promise to observe secrecy about the existence and all affairs of the League?
e. Do you promise to comply with the decisions of the League?

Then give us on this your word of honour as guarantee!

In the name and by the order of the Congress

Heide [Wilhelm Wolff]
Secretary
The President,
Karl Schill [Karl Schapper]

London, June 9, 1847

Monday, September 03, 2012

From The Pen Of Joshua Lawrence Breslin- Out In The Be-Bop 1950s Cold War Night- Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer Is On The Case- “Kiss Me Deadly”- A Film Review

Click on the headline to link to a Wikipedia entry for Kiss Me Deadly.

DVD Review

Kiss Me Deadly, Ralph Meeker, Cloris Leachman, directed by Robert Aldrich, 1955

Sure I‘m a film noir buff. And sure I like my film detectives that way as well, Sam Spade, Nick and Nora Charles, Phillip Marlowe and so on. Normally Mickey Spillane and his 1950s-style detective, Mike Hammer, would no hit my radar though. Believe me I did, however, spent many a misbegotten hour reading Spillane’s detective stories, maybe as much for cover art work that ran to provocative bosomy, half-clothed femme fatale dames in distress as for the insipid story line that ran heavily to Mike’s anti-communist warrior pose ready to smash heads at the drop of a hat, and grab an off-hand kiss from every dame he ran into along the way. Aside for the question of that scurrilous (now scurrilous, maybe) cover art that is better left for another day my tastes in detectives were more to the “highbrow” Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett and their more knight-errant-worthy story lines, and a little more reserve in the fist department, although for a damsel in distress they were ready to duke it out with anyone, and gladly.

That said, now along comes this classic 1950s film noir Mike Hammer story line, Kiss Me Deadly, and I was hooked, well, maybe not hooked so much as intrigued by it. Moreover, director Richard Aldrich seems to have had a flair for the noir film, from those black and white filmed shots of streets scenes in the seamy Los Angeles be-bop night (and day too, come to think of it), to an incredible be-bop jazz bar scene, complete with “torch” singer where after the loss of a friend Mike gets plastered (drunk), to the endless line-up of high end “golden age of the automobile” cars on display. Of course there is the normal bevy (maybe two bevies, I didn’t count) of alluring, mysterious women just waiting to fall into Mike’s arms when he comes within fifty paces of them, and he is, as usual, ready to put on his white knight uniform when he senses that something in evil in the world, and he most definitely is willing to thumb his nose as the governmental authorities who are always just a step, or seven, behind the flow of the action. But most of that is all in a day’s work for a noir detective. What makes this one stick out is the doom’s day plot.

Of course, the 1950s was not only about the rise of the “beats” and of teen alienation and angst-driven rock and roll but the heart of the international Cold War, a scary time no question, where if things had taken a half-twist a different way. Well, who knows, but it was not going to be pretty. And part of that Cold War, a central part, was the presence of the “bomb,, and for those who are too young to remember that was nothing but the atomic and hydrogen bombs that could, at any non-be-bop minute, blow the planet away.

And it is that threat that underlines old Mickey Spillane’s tale. See, with that kind of threat, but also the power potential, private parties, evil private parties could think of all kinds of nasty ways to wreak havoc on the world. If only they could get just a little of that bomb power. And that lust, that seemingly eternal lust, for power by certain of our fellows is where we are heading. See, someone privy to the atomic secrets had a little pot of the stuff ready for the highest bidder. And the highest bidder, so to speak, also happens to be a guy with plenty of dough to buy a ton of modern art (and a fondness for classic quotes). I knew there was something funny about those modern art collecting guys. Didn’t you?

And all it takes to spoil that nefarious plan is one Mike Hammer. Now, and here is the beauty of the Spillane method, this is not for governmental agents to handle, as one would think in trusting 1950s America, although they are hot on the trail but one thread worn detective. Thread worn? Yes, threadworm. See Mike is nothing but a low-rent, dirt-peddling divorce work detective (in the days when such dirt was necessary to get that desperate divorce), working this racket with his girl Friday (and lure), Velda. But see maybe Mike just fell on hard times and needed some dough (although his car, office set-up, digs… and fetching Velda belie that). But once Mike gets on the case, and only when he knows in his gut that something is wrong and he has that feeling here, then they are no limits. He faces off the mob (naturally, if there is something evil to broker they are in on it), half-mad women (one that he picked up on the hitchhike road, kind of, and her roommate) and that relentless modern art collector before he is through. I could go on but, really, this is one you have to see. And add to your list of film noir be-bop nights.

From The Pen Of Joshua Lawrence Breslin- Mugging For The Camera- “The Artist”-A Film Review

Click on the headline to link to a Wikipedia entry for the Academy Award –winning film The Artist.

DVD Review

The Artist, starring Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo, Warner Brothers, 2011

Hollywood, and the film industry internationally, have not been shy about making pictures about making pictures, or some other aspect of the movie industry. Some have been well-done like Day For Night others rather more self- indulgent like The Last Tycoon rather less so. The idea though of doing a film about the silent movie era by making a silent movie (almost totally) using a tried and true rags to riches theme and having audiences (or at least this reviewer and he was not alone) stay with the plot is a notch above all the other efforts.

Okay, the plot of this thing has been done to death, the old star is born routine, this time with an aging male silent film star “stepping aside,” kicking and screaming (silently of course) for a younger female star who not only can mug for the camera but talk without embarrassing herself, her bosses or the audience. But it is not the plot line that intrigues but the pure artistry that it took to convey a story line back in the day by “mugging for the camera.” I have seen some silent movies and I am sure more than one director or producer from that period would have died just to have the technology to produce such mugging in such crisp and seamless form back in the 1920s. This one is well worth seeing for just that reason.

From The Pen Of Joshua Lawrence Breslin-With The Rolling Stones’ “Back Street Girl” In Mind

Click on the headline to link to a YouTube film clip of the Rolling Stones performing Back Street Girl.

Backstreet Girl Lyrics-The Rolling Stones

I don't want you to be high
I don't want you to be down
Don't want to tell you no lie
Just want you to be around

Please come right up to my ears
You will be able to hear what I say

Don't want you out in my world
Just you be my backstreet girl

Please don't be part of my life
Please keep yourself to yourself
Please don't you bother my wife
That way you won't get no hell

Don't try to ride on my horse
You're rather common and coarse anyway

Don't want you out in my world
Just you be my backstreet girl

Please don't you call me at home
Please don't come knocking at night
Please never ring on the phone
Your manners are never quite right

Please take the favors I grant
Curtsy and look nonchalant, just for me

Don't want you part of my world
Just you be my backstreet girl

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He, well, he was just starting to gate crash the world. He, see, he had just “discovered,” if that is the right word, a way to connect all the dots and cross all the T’s in the internet world and place that savory information in one location with one click and so the dweebs and nerds of Silicon Valley were all a-flutter, and delighted to welcome him into their bright new cyberspace world. After years of work he had finally found backing back East, back in Boston, from a couple of goof ball (their designation of themselves but he learned, learned the hard way that term fit) venture capitalists and a trust fund baby who had listen to what he presented and bought into his ideas enough to leave him freed-up with some dough to bring the damn thing (his expression on certain days) to fruition.

Strange he had not started with any intention, inclination or desire to work in the meta-technological field. Hell, he had barely finished high school, North Adamsville High School in one of those old-time inner suburban working class towns just outside of Boston, and had worked as a night janitor in more locations than he wanted to admit to have the time to work on his gismo ideas and be at peace with himself. A couple of time he had wanted to throw in the towel figuring that even if he did succeed in connecting dots and crossing T’s that someone else would have jump-started him and that would be that. Another loser in the hard-pressed world of self-invention.

But then Verna came along, Verna of the seven veils he called her jokingly. One night he had been down on his invention luck and decided to accept an invitation from a friend to date a friend of his date. And that turned out to be Verna. Verna who worked at Thelma’s Beauty Parlor over in East Adamsville along with that friend’s date as a hair stylist, coloring a specialty, she proudly proclaimed when he met her that first night. However, as she also told him that first date to make sure things were straight between them, she had previously before the place was raided and she was taken into custody for some foolish solicitation charge, been a bump and grind dancer at Happy Hour Harry’s over in Centerville. Her act has involved various combinations of veils and no veils as the spirit moved her and hence the joke between them.

He, despite her apparent attempts to throw him off the track with her candor, or at least throw some cold water on his intentions toward her, was kind of smitten with her from the first. What sealed that emotion was an unintended result of that first date, a trip to the Poorboy’s Bowling over n North Adamsville near the beach, when she proved to be the better bowler of the pair. See he loved bowling and had since those early days when his parents first took him to Poorboy’s so she was aces when she proved to be an above average bowler. Yes, he was, and he told her that while they were both being more candid that first night than most married couples after five or ten years, just a simple guy, a guy who knew his roots, and knew his simple pleasures when he was knee-deep, heck, neck-deep in some gismo ides to connect things. And that is where the problems between he and Verna came in.

He was never sure of Verna’s intentions, or her smitten-ness with him (his word), as she was pretty closed mouth about that kind of stuff, despite her personal history candor, so they just drifted along together. Going bowling, eating at Jimmy Jack’s Diner in downtown Adamsville once in a while, having a few drinks and some laughs at Happy Hour Harry’s now that she was a paying customer. Maybe sneaking in a show, complete with popcorn. All the stuff that was probably hard-wired into them both at birth.

Then a couple of years into their drifting along together he gate -crashed the
world for real. Microchip, the big semi-conductor company, bought his patent for seven figures and hired him on as a consultant at six to bring the thing to the world . Of course that required suits and ties, required cocktail hours, required power point presentations in outer California, required, well, just required him to change his whole world basically.

And aiding and abetting that change was one trust fund baby, Lorna, Lorna Sweeney, the heir to the Sweeney chemical fortune, who not only put some dough in his lap to bring in his project but had “decided” (that is the way she put it to her girlfriends at lunch one day) to take dead aim at him as a “colorful” (her term) guy, a real guy in a world of dweebs and con artists. Truth be told he was more than a little willing to be that colorful guy once he and Lorna started to be in the same place more often.

But only a little, as he related to Verna later. Verna refused, and she would have done so categorically if she has thought of the term, to enter into the met-technological world with him. She hated beyond words the one party that she went to with him out in California and could care less about going to such affairs in Boston and New York. So he and Lorna had a million chances get close with Verna’s unknown blessing. Here is the strange part though one night, one night when the weather was too bad to go out bowling and they were stuck in his apartment, they reached an understanding. Or rather Verna laid it out for him, take it or leave it. In Boston she was the queen bee (her term). Elsewhere he was on his own as long as she didn’t hear about it. A lot of guys (hell, a lot of gals) would give their right arms, their first born, their entire fortune for such a deal. Last I heard he and Verna were still drifting along under that sign, that back street sign

From #Un-Occupied Boston (#Un-Tomemonos Boston)-What Happens When We Do Not Learn The Lessons Of History- The Pre-1848 Socialist Movement-Works of Auguste Blanqui 1866-Proclamation to Parisians

Click on the headline to link to the Occupy Boston General Assembly Minutes website. Occupy Boston started at 6:00 PM, September 30, 2011.

Markin comment:

I will post any updates from that Occupy Boston site if there are any serious discussions of the way forward for the Occupy movement or, more importantly, any analysis of the now atrophied and dysfunctional General Assembly concept. In the meantime I will continue with the “Lessons From History ’’series started in the fall of 2011 with Karl Marx’s The Civil War In France-1871 (The defense of the Paris Commune). Right now this series is focused on the European socialist movement before the Revolutions of 1848.
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An Injury To One Is An Injury To All!-Defend The Occupy Movement And All Occupiers! Drop All Charges Against All Occupy Protesters Everywhere!

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Fight-Don’t Starve-We Created The Wealth, Let's Take It Back! Labor And The Oppressed Must Rule!
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A Five-Point Program As Talking Points

*Jobs For All Now!-“30 For 40”- A historic demand of the labor movement. Thirty hours work for forty hours pay to spread the available work around. Organize the unorganized- Organize the South- Organize Wal-Mart- Defend the right for public and private workers to unionize.

* Defend the working classes! No union dues for Democratic (or the stray Republican) candidates. Spent the dough instead on organizing the unorganized and on other labor-specific causes (good example, the November, 2011 anti-union recall referendum in Ohio, bad example the Wisconsin gubernatorial recall race in June 2012).

*End the endless wars!- Immediate, Unconditional Withdrawal Of All U.S./Allied Troops (And Mercenaries) From Afghanistan! Hands Off Pakistan! Hands Off Iran! U.S. Hands Off The World!

*Fight for a social agenda for working people!. Quality Healthcare For All! Nationalize the colleges and universities under student-teacher-campus worker control! Forgive student debt! Stop housing foreclosures!

*We created the wealth, let’s take it back. Take the struggle for our daily bread off the historic agenda. Build a workers party that fights for a workers government to unite all the oppressed.

Emblazon on our red banner-Labor and the oppressed must rule!

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Works of Auguste Blanqui 1866-Proclamation to Parisians

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Source: Auguste Blanqui. Instruction pour une prise d'armes. L'Eternite par les astres, hypothese astronomique et autres textes, Societe encyclopedique francaise, Editions de la tete de feuilles. 1972;
Translated: for marxists.org by Mitchell Abidor;
CopyLeft: Creative Commons (Attribute & ShareAlike) marxists.org 2004.

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Parisians:

Sixteen years of gags! Sixteen years of outrages! France scoffed at, pillaged, trampled upon! Wasn’t that enough? No! Now hunger tears at the guts of the people!

Bonaparte promised glory and prosperity. Prosperity! Yes, he alone devoured 400 million francs, 25 million a year, 70,000 francs a day. He gorged with gold his Mamelukes, speculators, camp followers, priests. All he left to you to satisfy your hunger, was the rubble of demolitions.

Glory! We know it: Mexico, Mentana. And that’s only a beginning. From here on out all soldiers between 20 and 30 are soldiers...soldiers of the Pope.

They’ll have the honor of dying for the Jesuits, and Father Hyacinthe promises to hear their confessions on the battlefield.

To those who escape that glory, they’ll distribute soup at the doors of churches and barracks.

No more workshops! No more marriages! All of that is revolutionary. Nothing but palaces and prisons, convents and whorehouses!....

To arms, Parisians! Enough is enough! You received freedom from your fathers; you will not leave servitude to your sons.

The oppressors have filled the cup to the brim. To arms! Let punishment fall like lightning on their outrages. The hour of the great revolution of the people has sounded! Let us march!

“Workers of The World Unite, You Have Nothing To Lose But Your Chains”-The Struggle For Trotsky's Fourth (Communist) International -American Intervention in China-Resolution Adopted by the Executive Committee of the Fourth International-March 31, 1941

RALLY IN SUPPORT OF ALLEGED WIKILEAKS WHISTLEBLOWER PRIVATE BRADLEY MANNING AT THE DOWNTOWN BOSTON OBAMA HDQTRS. –SEPTMEBER 6, 2012-2:00 PM

From The Pens Of Karl Marx And Friedrich Engels-Their Struggles To Build Communist Organizations-The Early Days- Marx To Pierre-Joseph Proudhon In Paris (1846)

Click on the headline to link to the Marx-Engels Internet Archives for an online copy of the article mentioned in the headline.

Markin comment:

The foundation article by Marx or Engels listed in the headline goes along with the propaganda points in the fight for our communist future mentioned in other posts in this space. Just below is a thumbnail sketch of the first tentative proceedings to form a communist organization that would become a way-station on the road to building a Bolshevik-type organization in order fight for the socialist revolution we so desperately need and have since Marx and Engels first put pen to ink.
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Marx/Engels Internet Archive-The Communist League

A congress of the League of the Just opened in London on June 2, 1847. Engels was in attendance as delegate for the League's Paris communities. (Marx couldn't attend for financial reasons.)

Engels had a significant impact throughout the congress -- which, as it turned out, was really the "inaugural Congress" of what became known as the Communist League. This organization stands as the first international proletarian organization. With the influence of Marx and Engels anti-utopian socialism, the League's motto changed from "All Men are Brothers" to "Working Men of All Countries, Unite!"

Engels: "In the summer of 1847, the first league congress took place in London, at which W. Wolff represented the Brussels and I the Paris communities. At this congress the reorganization of the League was carried through first of all. ...the League now consisted of communities, circles, leading circles, a central committee and a congress, and henceforth called itself the 'Communist League'."

The Rules were drawn up with the participation of Marx and Engels, examined at the First Congress of the Communist League, and approved at the League's Second Congress in December 1847.

Article 1 of the Rules of the Communist League: "The aim of the league is the overthrow of the bourgeoisie, the rule of the proletariat, the abolition of the old bourgeois society which rests on the antagonism of classes, and the foundation of a new society without classes and without private property."

The first draft of the Communist League Programme was styled as a catechism -- in the form of questions and answers. Essentially, the draft was authored by Engels. The original manuscript is in Engels's hand.

The League's official paper was to be the Kommunistische Zeitschrift, but the only issue produced was in September 1847 by a resolution of the League's First Congress. It was First Congress prepared by the Central Authority of the Communist League based in London. Karl Schapper was its editor.

The Second Congress of the Communist League was held at the end of November 1847 at London's Red Lion Hotel. Marx attended as delegate of the Brussels Circle. He went to London in the company of Victor Tedesco, member of the Communist League and also a delegate to the Second Congress. Engels again represented the Paris communities. Schapper was elected chairman of the congress, and Engels its secretary.

Friedrich Lessner: "I was working in London then and was a member of the communist Workers' Educational Society at 191 Drury Lane. There, at the end of November and the beginning of December 1847, members of the Central Committee of the Communist League held a congress. Karl Marx and Frederick Engels came there from Brussels to present their views on modern communism and to speak about the Communists' attitude to the political and workers' movement. The meetings, which, naturally, were held in the evenings, were attended by delegates only... Soon we learned that after long debates, the congress had unanimously backed the principles of Marx and Engels..."

The Rules were officially adopted December 8, 1847.

Engels: "All contradiction and doubt were finally set at rest, the new basic principles were unanimously adopted, and Marx and I were commissioned to draw up the Manifesto." This would, of course, become the Communist Manifesto.
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Markin comment on this series:

No question that today at least the figures of 19th century communist revolutionaries, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, are honored more for their “academic” work than their efforts to build political organizations to fight for democratic and socialist revolutions, respectively, as part of their new worldview. Titles like Communist Manifesto, Das Kapital, The Peasants Wars In Germany, and the like are more likely to be linked to their names than Cologne Communist League or Workingmen’s International (First International). While the theoretical and historical materialist works have their honored place in the pantheon of revolutionary literature it would be wrong to neglect that hard fact that both Marx and Engels for most of their lives were not “arm chair" revolutionaries or, in Engels case, smitten by fox hunts. These men were revolutionary politicians who worked at revolution in high times and low. Those of us who follow their traditions can, or should, understand that sometimes, a frustratingly long sometimes, the objective circumstances do not allow for fruitful revolutionary work. We push on as we can. Part of that pushing on is to become immersed in the work of our predecessors and in this series the work of Marx and Engels to create a new form of revolutionary organization to fight the fights of their time, the time from about the Revolutions of 1848 to the founding of various socialist parties in Europe in the latter part of the 19th century.
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Letters of Marx and Engels, 1846

Marx To Pierre-Joseph Proudhon In Paris (1846)

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Source: MECW Volume 38 p. 38;
Written: 5 May 1846;
First published: in Die Gesellschaft, Jg. IV, H. 9, Berlin, 1927.

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Brussels, 5 May 1846
My dear Proudhon,

I have frequently had it in mind to write to you since my departure from Paris, but circumstances beyond my control have hitherto prevented me from doing so. Please believe me when I say that my silence was attributable solely to a great deal of work, the troubles attendant upon a change of domicile, [50] etc.

And now let us proceed in medias res [to the matter in hand] — jointly with two friends of mine, Frederick Engels and Philippe Gigot (both of whom are in Brussels), I have made arrangements with the German communists and socialists for a constant interchange of letters which will be devoted to discussing scientific questions, and to keeping an eye on popular writings, and the socialist propaganda that can be carried on in Germany by this means. [51] The chief aim of our correspondence, however, will be to put the German socialists in touch with the French and English socialists; to keep foreigners constantly informed of the socialist movements that occur in Germany and to inform the Germans in Germany of the progress of socialism in France and England. In this way differences of opinion can be brought to light and an exchange of ideas and impartial criticism can take place. It will be a step made by the social movement in its literary manifestation to rid itself of the barriers of nationality. And when the moment for action comes, it will clearly be much to everyone’s advantage to be acquainted with the state of affairs abroad as well as at home.

Our correspondence will embrace not only the communists in Germany, but also the German socialists in Paris and London. [52] Our relations with England have already been established. So far as France is concerned, we all of us believe that we could find no better correspondent than yourself. As you know, the English and Germans have hitherto estimated you more highly than have your own compatriots.

So it is, you see, simply a question of establishing a regular correspondence and ensuring that it has the means to keep abreast of the social movement in the different countries, and to acquire a rich and varied interest, such as could never be achieved by the work of one single person.

Should you be willing to accede to our proposal, the postage on letters sent to you as also on those that you send us will be defrayed here, collections made in Germany being intended to cover the cost of correspondence.

The address you will write to in this country is that of Mr Philippe Gigot, 8 rue de Bodenbrock. It is also he who will sign the letters from Brussels.

I need hardly add that the correspondence as a whole will call for the utmost secrecy on your part; our friends in Germany must act with the greatest circumspection if they are not to compromise themselves.

Let us have an early reply[53] and rest assured of the sincere friendship of

Yours most sincerely
Karl Marx

P.S. I must now denounce to you Mr Grün of Paris. The man is nothing more than a literary swindler, a species of charlatan, who seeks to traffic in modern ideas. He tries to conceal his ignorance with pompous and arrogant phrases but all he does is make himself ridiculous with his gibberish. Moreover this man is dangerous. He abuses the connection he has built up, thanks to his impertinence, with authors of renown in order to create a pedestal for himself and compromise them in the eyes of the German public. In his book on French socialists [Grün, Die soziale Bewegung in Frankreich und Belgien], has the audacity to describe himself as tutor (Privatdozent, a German academic title) to Proudhon, claims to have revealed to him the important axioms of German science and makes fun of his writings. Beware of this parasite. Later on I may perhaps have something more to say about this individual.

[From Gigot]

It is with pleasure that I take advantage of the opportunity offered by this letter to assure you how glad I am to enter into relations with a man as distinguished as yourself. Meanwhile, believe me,

Yours most sincerely
Philippe Gigot

[From Engels]

For my part, I can only hope, Mr Proudhon, that you will approve of the scheme we have just put to you and that you will be kind enough not to deny us your cooperation. Assuring you of the deep respect your writings have inspired in me, I remain,

Yours very sincerely
Frederick Engels

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Correspondence of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon

Proudhon To Marx
Lyon, 17 May 1846
My dear Monsieur Marx,

I gladly agree to become one of the recipients of your correspondence, whose aims and organization seem to me most useful. Yet I cannot promise to write often or at great length: my varied occupations, combined with a natural idleness, do not favour such epistolary efforts. I must also take the liberty of making certain qualifications which are suggested by various passages of your letter.

First, although my ideas in the matter of organization and realization are at this moment more or less settled, at least as regards principles, I believe it is my duty, as it is the duty of all socialists, to maintain for some time yet the critical or dubitive form; in short, I make profession in public of an almost absolute economic anti-dogmatism.

Let us seek together, if you wish, the laws of society, the manner in which these laws are realized, the process by which we shall succeed in discovering them; but, for God’s sake, after having demolished all the a priori dogmatisms, do not let us in our turn dream of indoctrinating the people; do not let us fall into the contradiction of your compatriot Martin Luther, who, having overthrown Catholic theology, at once set about, with excommunication and anathema, the foundation of a Protestant theology. For the last three centuries Germany has been mainly occupied in undoing Luther’s shoddy work; do not let us leave humanity with a similar mess to clear up as a result of our efforts. I applaud with all my heart your thought of bringing all opinions to light; let us carry on a good and loyal polemic; let us give the world an example of learned and far-sighted tolerance, but let us not, merely because we are at the head of a movement, make ourselves the leaders of a new intolerance, let us not pose as the apostles of a new religion, even if it be the religion of logic, the religion of reason. Let us gather together and encourage all protests, let us brand all exclusiveness, all mysticism; let us never regard a question as exhausted, and when we have used our last argument, let us begin again, if need be, with eloquence and irony. On that condition, I will gladly enter your association. Otherwise — no!

I have also some observations to make on this phrase of your letter: at the moment of action. Perhaps you still retain the opinion that no reform is at present possible without a coup de main, without what was formerly called a revolution and is really nothing but a shock. That opinion, which I understand, which I excuse, and would willingly discuss, having myself shared it for a long time, my most recent studies have made me abandon completely. I believe we have no need of it in order to succeed; and that consequently we should not put forward revolutionary action as a means of social reform, because that pretended means would simply be an appeal to force, to arbitrariness, in brief, a contradiction. I myself put the problem in this way: to bring about the return to society, by an economic combination, of the wealth which was withdrawn from society by another economic combination. In other words, through Political Economy to turn the theory of Property against Property in such a way as to engender what you German socialists call community and what I will limit myself for the moment to calling liberty or equality. But I believe that I know the means of solving this problem with only a short delay; I would therefore prefer to burn Property by a slow fire, rather than give it new strength by making a St Bartholomew’s night of the proprietors ...

Your very devoted
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon

Sunday, September 02, 2012

From The Pen Of Joshua Lawrence Breslin-Times Ain’t Now Like They Used To Be

The summer of 1962 was a good time to run the beach, run the beach at Olde Saco up in my old growing up home town in cold water Maine. At least my old friend Sam Grady and his running companion, Rene (Rennie) Dubois thought so. See, as he was telling me a few weeks ago at the beginning of July when I ran into him at Bob’s Big Breakfast Diner over in Scarborough, the idea was to build up your leg muscles and wind by slugging your way through the dunes, or sand piles. Sam said it was all the rage then, especially after everybody found out that was the way the Australian world record-holder at the mile Herb Elliott trained. So naturally every Podunk kid, from slow-mo Josh Breslin (for a minute as a runner) to fast guys like Sam and Rennie, who lived within fifty miles of the ocean, was running the sand that year.

Well that was Sam’s cover story, and maybe crazed runner Rennie (who would go on to win the state schoolboy mile championship a couple of years later) only a few years out of Cape Gaspe or someplace like that in Quebec, bought that story but I remember it very differently, very differently indeed as I informed a certain blushing sixty-something man when I “refreshed” his memory at the diner. See 1962 and sixteen, and ocean, even a cold water Maine ocean, meant if only in July and part of August, girls, local girls from around Olde Saco and, better, girls from up in the old country up in Quebec who used to flock to Old Orchard a few miles away in those days.

So sure Sam and Rennie would dutifully run miles in the sand piles in the early morning at the deserted Squaw Rock end of Olde Saco Beach, and maybe go home, depending on the tide, to shower and rest. But Sam (and usually Rennie, yes, I recall he was usually tagging along when I would see them later in the day) would inevitably be stationed (and I use that word choice consciously) just to the left of the jetty at the other end of Olde Saco Beach. And why was Sam (and Rennie) stationed in that exact spot. Have you been paying attention? That is where the girls were, okay.

Some were hot, the girls that is, some not, some from around town, some from the old country like I said but there were plenty of them. So naturally, naturally in 1962 anyway, every guy with any hopes at all in doing anything but dawdle away the summer drew a beeline to that location. Now get this straight everybody in the know, which meant every teen-age guy or girl, knew that you went to the left side of the jetty not the right. The right was for touristas and noisy families that everybody that counted, meaning naturally every self-respecting teenager, was hiding away from. And that left of the jetty sacred locale only extended maybe two hundred yards because then you would have more touristas and townies too poor to go to York, Kennebunkport, or someplace like that for a real beach vacation. But those two hundred yards or so was hallowed ground recognized by tourista and townie alike. So there we were (yes, in the interest of full disclosure as befits the times we live in I was “stationed” there too).

But back to Sam (mainly). Now despite his unusual interest in running his butt off in some sand dunes for no known rational reason except some strange cultish kicks that I could never figure out he was a good-looking guy (as was dark-haired Rennie who also had the cachet of being able to speak the French patois which was a dying language then in Olde Saco but got revived with the summer F-C invasion and gave him a jump on all the old country F-C girls). And good-looking guys, tanned, sixteen, 1962 , ocean sprayed, were drawing the frails (localism, teen localism for girls, women, okay) like crazy even if they didn’t know the patois, maybe especially if they didn’t know the patois.

Here though, is where our little story turns sad, teenage sad which meant at the time eternally sad although in the great scheme of things meant, well, meant merely a passing heartache or two. With emphasis on the passing part. Sam only had eyes for Lily LeBlanc, one of his female classmates at Olde Saco High, that summer. Actually let’s back up and make it had only eyes for her since about eighth grade. So his “vigil” down at that left side of the jetty was not about mulling over the merits of cute winsome brunettes in two- piece bikinis from Old Orchard or blondes, thin, no bosom blondes also cute from Three Rivers or Ile de Orleans up in Quebec or an off-hand sunburned Irish redhead from Portland like the rest of us but about making himself visibly present when one Lily LeBlanc and her girlfriends spread their blankets at their designated spot about one hundred yards to the left of the jetty.

Sam had two problems though, actually now that I think about it maybe three. First, Lily LeBlanc was “hot,” tall, thin, but with a nice shape and great legs (like most F-C girls) and so every guy from about fourteen to forty was eyeing her, and more from what I heard. So for a long time her “dance card” was full and so despite his occasional pleading for a date since about eighth grade she turned him down politely, but turned him down cold (most F-C girls were polite but had this funny habit of turning down guys cold as I well knew). Nada, no go, hit the road, brother but politely said just like their Gallic Catholic novena praying mothers taught them, damn it.

Secondly, just then, just that summer of 1962, Lily was enthralled by Pierre Jacques and his ’59 Chevy and so she was not in the “market” for good-looking guys with no cars, no hopes of getting cars, and in Sam’s case no great desire to get a car, although like everyone else, guy or gal, she probably took a few calculated peeks if something came strolling by. Lily could be seen when not preening herself at the Olde Saco jetty just for the heck of it could be seen riding very close to Pierre, already out of high school and working in one of his father’s diners in town (the one on Main Street not the one over on Atlantic Avenue that was strictly for touristas and blue-haired ladies) up and down Main Street (really U.S. Route 1 but everybody around called it Main Street, and it was), most summer nights. Sorry, Brother Sam, sorry.

Thirdly, and now that I think about it more this might have had more substance than I thought back in those days when I thought I was the only one who thought Sam was weird to be running in shorts in all weathers and under all conditions including that sand dune stunt. Right after Fourth of July that summer of 1962 Sam, desperate to talk to Lily down at the jetty and maybe turn things around, walked up to her to make his big play. And make it in front of that bevy of girlfriends. Like I said Sam was desperate. Here is what he said, or what he told me and Rennie he said a couple of days later when he related his sad tale to us and I quote- “I walked up to Lily and told her I had been running down at the Squaw Rock end of the beach the past few weeks in order to be ready to win the state championship in cross-country up in Auburn in the fall and that I hoped she would be there to see me win. She responded with-Oh, does Olde Saco have a cross-country team? But the way she said it was like if the school did have one it placed well below the science club or chess club. Strictly squaresville. ”

Crestfallen, Sam, not known for blushing, retreated. But intrepid like almost every other teenager otherwise there would be far fewer of them surviving
Sam returned to the jetty to maintain his now lonely and silent vigil although maybe a little farther away from the LeBlanc entourage a couple of days later. While there one member of that entourage, Sissy LaCroix, hesitantly headed in Sam’s direction. Now everybody liked Sissy, she had personality plus and although she was not as “hot” as Lily she was no throw-back either (localism-teenage localism). Somehow Sam thought she was bringing some barbed remark from Lily. Instead she said this, “Sam, I’ll go see you try to win the cross-country championship although I don’t know much about such things. Maybe you could tell me some more.” Right then and there he explained what the thing was about. And the rest was history. No, Sam didn’t win the state championship that year, he was third, but one Sissy LaCroix was on that golf course up in Auburn when he received his medal and they were together for the rest of their high school days.

[Sam and I after swapping some more lies at Bob’s Diner decided to go over to the jetty to see what this generation of Olde Saco and old country teenagers were doing to while away the summer teenage life. We went about one o’clock the height of teen beach time in the old days. When we got there to our dismay there was not one teenage blanket within a half mile of the jetty, on either side. Yes, times right now ain’t like they used to be. –JLB]

Let’s Redouble Our Efforts To Free Private Bradley Manning-President Obama Pardon Bradley Manning -Make Every Town Square In America (And The World) A Bradley Manning Square From Boston To Berkeley to Berlin-Join Us In Davis Square, Somerville –The Stand-Out Is Every Wednesday From 4:00-5:00 PM-All Out Thursday September 6th At Obama Hdqtrs. 77 Summer Street, Boston At 3:00 PM To Rally For Bradley

Click on the headline to link to the Private Bradley Manning Petition website page.

Markin comment:

The Private Bradley Manning case is headed toward a mid- winter trial. Those of us who support his cause should redouble our efforts to secure his freedom. For the past several months there has been a weekly stand-out in Greater Boston across from the Davis Square Redline MBTA stop (renamed Bradley Manning Square for the stand-out’s duration) in Somerville on Friday afternoons but we have since July 4, 2012 changed the time and day to 4:00-5:00 PM on Wednesdays. This stand-out has, to say the least, been very sparsely attended. We need to build it up with more supporters present. Please join us when you can. Or better yet if you can’t join us start a Support Bradley Manning weekly stand-out in some location in your town whether it is in the Boston area, Berkeley or Berlin. And please sign the petition for his release either in person or through the Bradley Manning Support Network. I have placed links to the Manning Network and Manning Square website below.
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Bradley Manning Support Network

http://www.bradleymanning.org/

Manning Square website

http://freemanz.com/2012/01/20/somerville_paper_photo-bradmanningsquare/bradleymanningsquare-2011_01_13/
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The following are remarks that I have been focusing on of late to build support for Private Manning’s cause at stand-outs, marches and rallies.

We of the international anti-war movement were not able to do much to affect the Bush- Obama Iraq war timetable or, as of now, the Afghanistan one, but we can save the one hero of that war, American soldier Private Bradley Manning. The Manning legal case, and Private Manning as an exceptionally brave individual, can and should serve to rally all those looking for a concrete way to express their anti-war outrage at the continuing atrocious American imperial war policies. The message below can serve as a continuing rationale for my (and your) support to this honorable whistleblower.
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Veterans for Peace proudly stands in solidarity with, and in defense of, Private Bradley Manning.

I stand in solidarity with the alleged actions of Private Bradley Manning in bringing to light, just a little light, some of the nefarious war-related doings of this government, under Bush and Obama. Those precious bits of information leaked to Wikileaks about American soldiers committing war atrocities in Iraq as chronicled in the tape known on YouTube as Collateral Murder and the Iraq and Afghan War Diaries. If he did such acts they are no crime. No crime at all in my eyes or in the eyes of the vast majority of people who know of the case and of its importance as an individual act of resistance to the unjust and barbaric American-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I sleep just a shade bit easier these days knowing that Private Manning may have exposed what we all knew, or should have known- the Iraq war and the Afghan war justifications rested on a flim-flam house of cards. American imperialism’s gun-toting flim-flam house of cards, but cards nevertheless.

I am standing in solidarity with Private Bradley Manning because I am outraged by the treatment meted out to Private Manning, presumably an innocent man, by a government who alleges itself to be some “beacon” of the civilized world. Bradley Manning has been held in solidarity at Quantico, other locales, and now at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas for over two years, and has been held without trial for longer, as the government and its military try to glue a case together. The military, and its henchmen in the Justice Department, have gotten more devious although not smarter since I was a soldier in their crosshairs over forty years ago.

Many of us have become somewhat inured to the constant cases of jackboot torturous behavior on the part of the American military in places like Guantanamo, Bagram and other national security hellhole black box locations against foreign nationals. We have also become inured, or at least no longer surprised, when American civilian citizens are subject to such actions, and more likely death. However, as recent allegations of pre-trial torturous conduct condoned by high military authority (see the allegations and motion to dismiss charged on the Bradley Manning Support Network website) by Private Manning’s civilian defense lawyer David Coombs make clear, those acts are not confined to foreign nationals and American civilian citizens. The torture of Private Manning, an American soldier, by the American government should give us all pause. And should have us shouting to the heavens for his release.

These are more than sufficient reasons to stand in solidarity with Private Manning and will be until the day this brave soldier is freed by his jailers. And I will continue to stand in proud solidarity with Private Manning until that great day.

I urge everyone to sign the petition calling on the American military to free Private Bradley Manning either here or on the Bradley Manning Support Network website. And if we cannot get Private Manning freed that way I urge everyone to begin a campaign in your area to call on President Barack Obama, or whoever is president while Private Manning is incarcerated, to pardon this brave soldier. The American president has the constitutional authority to grant pardons to the guilty and innocent, the convicted and those facing charges. I call on President Obama to pardon Private Manning now.

Immediate Unconditional Withdrawal of All U.S./Allied Troops And Mercenaries From Afghanistan! Hands Off Iran! Free Private Manning Now! President Obama Pardon Private Manning!

AMERICAN LEFT HISTORY

Tuesday, September 04, 2012

“Workers of The World Unite, You Have Nothing To Lose But Your Chains”-The Struggle For Trotsky's Fourth (Communist) International -Manifesto of the Fourth International-For Defense of the Soviet Union-August 1941

Reflections On Labor Day 2012 Rally In Boston

RALLY IN SUPPORT OF ALLEGED WIKILEAKS WHISTLEBLOWER PRIVATE BRADLEY MANNING AT THE DOWNTOWN BOSTON OBAMA HDQTRS. –SEPTMEBER 6, 2012-2:00 PM

From The Pens Of Karl Marx And Friedrich Engels-Their Struggles To Build Communist Organizations-The Early Days- Draft Rules of the Communist League (1847)

Monday, September 03, 2012

From The Pen Of Joshua Lawrence Breslin- Out In The Be-Bop 1950s Cold War Night- Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer Is On The Case- “Kiss Me Deadly”- A Film Review

From The Pen Of Joshua Lawrence Breslin- Mugging For The Camera- “The Artist”-A Film Review

From The Pen Of Joshua Lawrence Breslin-With The Rolling Stones’ “Back Street Girl” In Mind

From #Un-Occupied Boston (#Un-Tomemonos Boston)-What Happens When We Do Not Learn The Lessons Of History- The Pre-1848 Socialist Movement-Works of Auguste Blanqui 1866-Proclamation to Parisians

“Workers of The World Unite, You Have Nothing To Lose But Your Chains”-The Struggle For Trotsky's Fourth (Communist) International -American Intervention in China-Resolution Adopted by the Executive Committee of the Fourth International-March 31, 1941

RALLY IN SUPPORT OF ALLEGED WIKILEAKS WHISTLEBLOWER PRIVATE BRADLEY MANNING AT THE DOWNTOWN BOSTON OBAMA HDQTRS. –SEPTMEBER 6, 2012-2:00 PM

From The Pens Of Karl Marx And Friedrich Engels-Their Struggles To Build Communist Organizations-The Early Days- Marx To Pierre-Joseph Proudhon In Paris (1846)

Sunday, September 02, 2012

From The Pen Of Joshua Lawrence Breslin-Times Ain’t Now Like They Used To Be

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