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Commentary

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Socialism, but we must insist on a new con

tent for this role which recognizes in prac- "*”
tice as well as theory the real role of the
working class and its allies in effecting social
Change, in building and consolidating
socialism. In short, the link between demo-

Cracy and socialism must be seen to be
indivisible.

fifth lesson flows
from the answer to
the question: How
does a party of the
working class be-
come so far removed
from the working
class? This lesson
cannot be separated
from the basic organizational principles of a
Tevolutionary working class party; it cannot
be separated from the legacy of Stalinism
and from the substitution of bureaucratic
centralism for democratic centralism.

Stalinism means the dialectical link of
democracy to centralism becomes skewed
in favour of centralism, deviousness, and
manipulation, at the expense of democracy.
The rank and file (who are most closely in
touch with the working people) of the
respective Communist parties have not had
sufficient influence or control over the on-
eae development of party policy and stra-

egy.

__ The pluralism of ideas needed for social-
ist development gives way to the increasing
Stagnation of the leadership core and the
bureaucracy built around them. Thus we
need to conclude that the organizational
Principles of the Communist Party are not
an impediment to the organization of the
working class, and the achievement and
maintenance of socialism, but the distorted
and corrupt application of those principles
most certainly are.

A sixth lesson stems from the ideological
stagnation linked to organizational dis-
order. The development of ideology, while
it precedes and anticipates action, must also
be confirmed in practice. The battle of ideas
developed and refined in action has in many
cases lost to a bureaucratically-interpreted
party line imposed from the top down, Both
Marxist theory and working class practice
suffer.

ee!
Neo-conservatism, and the deepening crisis of
capitalism, and problems facing the human race
put the need for a new social system, and the ways
to achieve it on the agenda of both our country and
planet. The concept of socialism as the antithesis

of capitalism remains valid.

(es

We need to ask: why did nearly 100 mil- .

lion Communists world-wide engage in the
same self-hypnosis, for so long, around an
estimation of the relative strengths, wea-
knesses and perspectives of imperialism and
socialism — an estimation upon which the
tactics of individual parties were based and
which has now been seen to be profoundly
incorrect. That is related to the stagnation
of theory and the severing of the vital link
between theory and practice and to inner-
arty democracy.

Iris also ected to the law of develop-
ment of Marxist parties based on criticism
and self criticism. When criticism becomes
pro forma, those on the bottom are the ones
being criticized and those at the top enjoy
papal infallibility. While the Communist
Party is guided by its program, the line of
the party and its application cannot be
static, especially in times such as these.

Criticism and self-criticism should have
the effect of refining and, if necessary, alter-
ing the line and strengthening the relation-
ship of the party to the working class and its
allies and in solving the many problems the
working class confronts on its path to
power and beyond. a2

The image of, and path to, socialism
require a major overhaul, irrespective of
events in Europe and existing socialism.
Neo-conservatism, the deepening crisis of
capitalism and new problems facing
humanity, put the need for a new social
system, and the ways to achieve it on the
agenda of both our country and world-
wide.

The concept of socialism as the antithesis
of capitalism remains valid. So does the
leading role of working class, and the need

to replace the state power of the capitalist
class by political power of the working class
and its allies. The need for a leading political
party of the working class, guided by scien-
tific socialism and based on sound organiza-
tional principles, has not been invalidated
by events in Europe. But each of these con-
cepts and principles have been given valua-
ble new content.

/ hat is required
is to reaffirm
that Canada
needs a revo-
lutionary work-
ing class party
imbued with
these concepts
and principles;
and a party which can confidently and rea-
listically advance the aims and ideals of
socialism, and can imbue the working class
with the confidence to win. What is required
is a party that can separate its tremendous
contribution to the working class from its
mistakes and move forward.

The Communist Party of Canada is such
a party.

We are such a party because we do con-
clude that socialism is not a failure. We
conclude that despite all of its errors, despite
the fact that it made its first appearances in
the most economically backward countries,
socialism has already demonstrated, in a
very short period of time, amazing and
incontrovertible progress in breaking the
monopoly of capitalism on the planet.

We also conclude that while the Com-
munist Party of Canada has made its share
of mis-estimations and mistakes, it was also
capable of conceptualizing and organizing

such major enduring actions as the “On-To-
Ottawa Trek” which had a direct bearing
on the establishment of Unemployment
Insurance. The Communist Party was able
to conceptualize and lead mass strikes at the
height of the depression when most were
counselling workers to wait for better eco-
nomic times. This set the stage for the crea-
tion of the mass industrial trade unions.

The Communist Party was able to pio-
neer and lead the attack on the Abbott Plan
in 1947 and NATO in 1949 against the
integration of Canada and U.S. The Com-
munist Party took the brunt of the
McCarthyite cold war attack and endured.
We conclude that we have played and will
continue to play an important role in devel-
oping strategies to fight the neo-conservative
sellout of Canada as part of the lasting
struggle for peace, for the environment, for
social justice, and for our ultimate
goal — socialism. :

But we say unreservedly that unscientific,
dogmatic, dishonest, conservative, non-
revolutionary thinking has no place in our
movement and we have no difficulty stand-
ing before working people and saying so.

We conclude that what is required from
us at this moment in history are the type of
policies which challenge the power of the
transnational corporations in our country
and internationally. What is required is the
type of all-in political movements, inside as
well as outside parliament, to implement the
alternative economic agenda to neo-
conservatism.

What is required is independent labour
political action, especially in the context of
broad extra-parliamentary alliances, with
organized labour at the centre, involving the
struggle of growing sections of the Cana-
dian people.

What is required is the vision of how this
links to the struggle for fundamental social
change. Here, the struggles of the peoples of
Eastern Europe ultimately converge with
our struggles here at home, and with those
of the peoples in the developing countries.

Unlike the gloom spread by the capitalist
estimation of the unfolding world, this then
is a Communist poifit of view.

George Hewison is leader of the Commu-
nist Party of Canada.

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