(Editor’s note: The following is excerpted from a longer Congress document which discussed the economic, political, and social situation of the country in the 1980s, an assessment of the League’s work, and details of the League’s tasks in this next period.
This excerpt from that document presents the League’s view on some points on the general strategy and tactics of the U.S. revolution.)
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What do we mean by strategy?
By strategy, we mean the perspective we have on how the proletariat in the U.S. will lead the movement to overthrow monopoly capitalism and establish socialism. Strategy deals ultimately with the question of how state power will be seized, including what forces will be involved and to what degree, and what basic forms and methods of struggle will be necessary to seize power. We must always keep in mind our strategic perspectives.
The following are some points we should consider as fundamental in our strategic view of the U.S. revolution:
1. The strategic alliance between the working class and oppressed nationality movements forms the core of the united front against the U.S. monopoly capitalist class. These two great movements are the most powerful of all the basic social forces in U.S. society and will lead all other social sectors against the class enemy. The oppressed nationality movements seek an end to national oppression and the victory of genuine national equality. These goals can only be brought about by the socialist revolution, the objective of the revolutionary proletariat. This forms the basis for the unity of these two great movements.
The monopoly capitalist class has bribed a section of the working class and promoted white chauvinism to turn white workers against the legitimate aspirations of the oppressed nationalities, perpetuate national oppression, and prop up imperialism. The key to forging the strategic alliance is to win the multinational working class to support the struggles of the oppressed nationalities.
2. The revolution in the U.S. cannot be considered in isolation from the international environment. Rather, the U.S. revolution will be inextricably tied to world events. The strength of the bourgeoisie is rooted to a large extent in the superpower status of U.S. imperialism. The economic, political and military empire of the U.S. is a great reserve of strength for the ruling class. The destruction of this empire is a necessary part of the socialist revolution. The working class support for struggles against U.S. imperialism is an internationalist responsibility and a practical aspect of its own liberation.
3. World events will particularly influence developments in the “border” regions of the U.S. – the oppressed Afro-American, Chicano and Hawaiian nations, and the colonial holdings such as Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and the territories in the Pacific. Struggle in the third world, especially in the Caribbean, Central America and Mexico, will stimulate and inspire revolutionary efforts here. This emphasizes the importance of our work among the oppressed peoples and within the oppressed nations, as well as the ties between revolutionaries in the U.S. and those in surrounding countries.
4. The U.S. revolution will be a protracted revolution. The U.S. bourgeoisie is the most powerful capitalist class in history and its overthrow will not be easy. The contradictions of U.S. capitalism are becoming quite obvious to many, but before the monopoly capitalist class will be overthrown, the masses of people will need considerably more education, experience in struggle, and organized strength. The bourgeoisie itself will have to be weakened much further. The socialist revolution will not be possible without these factors. World war or severe economic crisis may accelerate this process, but while they exist as possibilities, neither is likely in the upcoming years of this decade.
5. The main forms of struggle in the U.S. revolution will be legal forms. Until the U.S. bourgeoisie abandons bourgeois democracy as its main form of class rule, legal forms of struggle will predominate. The main activity of the proletarian struggle will be through the various avenues available under bourgeois democracy to organize, agitate, and educate the masses.
6. The importance of theoretical work and propaganda to combat bourgeois ideology must be recognized. The U.S. has a high literacy rate and the media is very well developed. The bourgeoisie utilizes the media to propagate its ideas, perspectives, and ideology. A key task of the socialist revolution is to combat bourgeois ideology and influence the thinking of the masses. Constant theoretical and propaganda work must be done among the masses, but also among communists, to combat the corrosives of bourgeois ideology within the vanguard of the proletariat.
7. In mass work, work among the basic masses must be combined with work among other strata. Our long-term perspective is that we must concentrate our mass work in the lower stratum of the working class. In addition, we must develop our work among all sectors of the working class and the oppressed nationalities. These are the most powerful social forces.
At the same time, we will have to develop work among other sectors that are influential. Communists must develop work among the intelligentsia, such as among professionals, writers, professors, and the like. We will also have to develop work among sectors of the petty bourgeoisie and, at some point, even individual members of the bourgeoisie, to develop every possible force for the proletariat. The U.S. is a very broad, diverse, and complex society and the proletariat will have to try to develop many different ways to win over, influence, neutralize, or counteract a diversity of forces. The socialist revolution must rely on the basic masses, but unless communists develop extensive ties throughout society, the proletariat will not be able to seize and hold power at the decisive moment.
8. The independence, solidarity and security of the proletarian vanguard must be maintained. Communists work for a broad, diverse movement among the working class and masses, but it is essential that the proletarian vanguard self-consciously maintain and develop its own strength and organization. This is necessary to ensure that the developing mass movement has its leadership and its advanced sector.
Communists may use many different tactics, make alliances, and negotiate with various forces, but the independence, solidarity and security of the vanguard organization must never be compromised. Never for a moment should it be thought that the socialist revolution will be possible without the leading element. And definitely, as the struggle develops, the vanguard will become more of a target for the bourgeoisie who will inevitably use subversion, corrosion and attack to try to destroy the revolution.
9. The actual seizure of state power will combine an international crisis of imperialism with a domestic uprising. How will the revolution actually come about? We cannot predict precisely, of course, but the broad outlines of monopoly capitalism and the past struggle against monopoly capitalism give us some general ideas. U.S. monopoly capitalism is a world superpower and, undoubtedly, a crisis in its international empire (national liberation or upheaval in a critical area of its control, such as Mexico) will have profound implications for the U.S. bourgeoisie. The power of the bourgeoisie domestically is dependent upon these international ties. Furthermore, the struggle in the third world has been at a much higher level than within the capitalist countries and indications are that this will continue. It is therefore reasonable to anticipate that a revolutionary situation in the U.S. might be set off by developments in imperialism’s overseas empire.
Domestically, the destruction of the bourgeoisie and its state apparatus will probably require a combination of worker insurrections with uprisings in the oppressed nations and oppressed nationality communities. A combination of these types of powerful forces will be necessary to defeat the bourgeoisie’s forces, which probably will be substantial to the end.
The actual form of the seizure of state power cannot be predicted at this time. We would prefer a peaceful seizure of power. However, we are not naive. The proletariat must be prepared to defend itself and proletarian power by whatever means necessary.
The following are some tactical considerations we should take into account in this period. By tactics we mean the allocation of forces and actions based upon immediate objective conditions and our strategic views. Our tactics aim to realize our strategic goals and are subordinate to our basic strategy.
1. We are still in the first stage of the revolution. The vanguard of the working class is not yet organized, and this is why party building must remain our central task. Our forces are still quite small and our ability to affect the mass movement is minimal. We must pay great attention to building up our ranks, developing our program and strategy, and organization. Without this type of work, culminating eventually in the formation of a genuine communist party, there can be no question of entering the next stage of the revolution where we will be able to play a more decisive and leading role in the broad mass movement. At that point, we will be able to pay more attention to our tactics and broadly move the masses against the bourgeoisie.
2. We need to continue to focus on the lower stratum of the working class for our work. The lower stratum of the working class continues to be the most receptive to communist ideas and best represents the basic interests of the working class. Other sectors of the working class and masses have become more active due to the economic crisis and we should take advantage of these struggles to expand our work, but we must maintain our basic orientation toward the lower stratum. The lower stratum of the working class includes production workers, most service workers, and the generally lower paid sectors of the class. A high proportion of the lower stratum is oppressed nationality and women workers. Our ability to expand our contacts in the working class and increase the working class composition of the League depends on our ability to develop our work in the lower stratum.
3. While continuing with the work we have been doing for the past several years, the developing imperialist crisis and evolution of the mass movement require us to adopt some new methods of work and tactics. In a period when the conditions of the masses are deteriorating and the left offers a weak alternative, the people turn either to conservatism, escapism, or to struggle within the existing political system. Therefore, much of the current dissatisfaction of the masses is being expressed through traditional channels, such as the trade unions, electoral politics and broad protest coalitions.
This generation will have to learn about the bankruptcy of bourgeois democracy through its own direct experience. Until then, we have an obligation to participate in bourgeois democratic institutions to make immediate gains for the people, to educate the masses in the course of struggle, and to improve conditions for Marxism-Leninism and the building of the vanguard party of the working class. We need to pay more attention to our tactics and how to work in these broad movements.
While maintaining our communist views, we must learn how to work with the liberal and reform elements that are trying to win the leadership of the mass movement. We must work well in broad mass organizations and movements.
This is the case especially for electoral politics. It is our view that electoral politics will touch all mass movements and sectors of people. At least in this decade, it will be a central arena of struggle. We cannot afford to be outside of this major development.
We need to avoid making the error of dismissing these struggles because they are taking place through traditional means. But we also must avoid liquidating our own independent work. In fact, we must develop this in order to offer a clear alternative to those advanced elements who are emerging from the mass movement. We must point out that while we fight for immediate gains and the defense of the working class and masses, we also are fighting for the socialist revolution, the fundamental solution to the crisis.
We would be making right errors if all we did was go into the mass movement and fight for the many immediate demands that are being raised. We need to maintain and further our socialist presence and be ready to shift our tactics as the mass movement develops. We would be making left errors if we ignored or belittled the current struggles.
4. We need to expand our propaganda and cultural work. This is a period of tremendous ideological confusion, both within the left as well as among the masses of people. Theoretical work to develop Marxism-Leninism, and propaganda and agitation to educate the advanced and masses, are all essential for the growth of the left and of Marxism-Leninism.
5. While broadening our work we must also continue work in various mass organizations. Mass organizations have stable and consistent ties with the masses and play important functions in the people’s movements.
6. Our organizational policies and functioning must become more professional. The League is growing in size and its work is becoming more sophisticated. This places greater demands on our organizational work. We will have to place more attention on efficiency, security and the correct functioning of democratic centralism. The political and ideological influence of the League is integrally linked to its organizational life.
In the context outlined above, we reaffirm that our central task is party building.
In addition to our work to win the advanced to communism and develop a base for Marxism-Leninism within the working class, we want to place a greater emphasis on theoretical work and propaganda and agitation. Much of our ability to accomplish our political goals is predicated on the ability of Marxist-Leninists to develop a body of theoretical work. This is the single most important part of our tasks today. In order to accomplish these tasks we will be developing various study groups to develop papers for our theoretical journal, Forward, and strengthening our national commissions and our newspaper work.
We must also continue to try to unite Marxist-Leninists. This will not be accomplished overnight, and it will be a process to achieve the ideological and political unity necessary to unite the majority of Marxist-Leninists into one organization. At the same time we believe there is a definite basis, as well as an ever-growing necessity, for Marxist-Leninists to develop ways for more organized discussion and debate, joint theoretical work and greater cooperation in the mass movement.