CPMLM – Document 50 – Resolution on strategy
Submitted by Anonyme (non vérifié)The situation in France
Reactionary progress in a context of crisis, and the emergence of an ideology of the military coup
The general crisis of capitalism and its manifestations in France
The ideological role of the “No” vote in the 2005 referendum on the European constitution
A “right-wing May '68”: protest against gay marriage, the humourist Dieudonné and the “Red Woolen Hats”
Anti-fascism, a necessary Front for progressives
The possibility of a reactionary coup
The struggle for socialist revolution
Defending our ideological legacy, championing the cause of progress
Asserting our orthodox stance and staying true to dialectical materialism
Integrating ecology into dialectical materialism
Questions of organization
International issues
On Nepalese revisionism
The international unity of communists and the question of ideology
The situation in France
Reactionary progress in a context of crisis, and the emergence of an ideology of the military coup
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The general crisis of capitalism and its manifestations in France
The CPMLM was born as a revolutionary nucleus to assert the complete validity of the theses of dialectical materialism. One of these theses affirms the inevitability of the general crisis of capitalism.
The importance of this thesis should not be underestimated. It means that capitalism will not go through ups and down before eventually emerging as a valid option, which would imply that struggle through trade unions is the road to follow for revolutionaries.
On the contrary it means that capitalism will collapse, that the society resting upon it will rot away, and that the tendency towards imperialistic war will strengthen until it resolves into general war between imperialist powers.
This is why the CPMLM does not focus on class struggle at a given time, but over a whole period; we know that if our theses are not understood today, they will be tomorrow, just as many of our theses were rejected yesterday and are today undeniable.
When the CPMLM stated in 2006 that the “Front National” was going to gain momentum very quickly, if fell on dead ears; now the accuracy of this analysis cannot be denied.
In the same way, we know that our statement that the bourgeoisie is dividing into fractions will be widely accepted in the future: the more aggressive bourgeois fraction will decide to take command of the state, at the expense of traditional bourgeoisie. The general crisis of capitalism rests on the tendencial decrease in rates of profit; monopolies must deepen exploitation further to satisfy their unquenchable and exponential need for profit.
This means ever more unemployment, ever more precariousness; there will be no economic recovery, but spiraling impoverishment for the masses, while an ever-shrinking minority will get hold of all of the wealth produced by society.
This means that what will be produced by capitalism will consist more and more of emblematic products for the affluent class – Apple being a prime example – and conversely, of increasingly vile commodities for the masses, full of sugar, meat, chemicals, planned obsolescence, and so on.
On top of this there is the tendency towards imperialistic war. Military interventions under president Hollande do not differ from those under president Sarkozy; capitalism is striding towards imperialistic and will not be stopped.
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The ideological role of the “No” vote in the 2005 referendum on the European constitution
In 2005 the victory of the “No” camp in the referendum on the European constitution was considered a great success by the left and even by the far-left.
At the time the CPMLM largely criticized excessive reactions of “joy”, and triumphalism in the far-left (“Serve the people or serve the middle classes? An analysis of the positions of the “No” camp in the wake of the referendum”).
But there is something even more important, and it is a fundamental part of our matrix. Even before the referendum, the CPMLM had correctly analyzed the social composition of the “No” camp. Our 2005 document “Let's boycott the referendum” gives an insight into the cultural and ideological transformations that have been taking place in France:
“Part of the French bourgeoisie does not believe in unified Europe, and considers Great-Britain, Italy or Spain as Trojan horses of U.S. Imperialism, and the same can be said about Turkey.
This part of the bourgeoisie favours a Europe of nations, and a special partnership between France, Germany and Russia, opposing a constitution that would prevent French imperialism to do as it wishes, notably in Africa.
The imperialistic fraction supporting this option also supports the “No” camp of Le Pen, De Villiers, etc. It has joined forces with the middle classes, telling them that they have everything to lose from a European unification that would give power to the great European monopolies, and everything to win from a brutal alliance with the French monopolies (…).
The truth is that in the “No” camp, the interests of the petty-bourgeois middle classes are the only political guiding principle.
Nationalist discourse, in the current climate of massive antisemitism and racism in France, pervades all the arguments in the “No” camp, with concepts such as the republic, national sovereignty, and the gimmickry of all would-be Napoleons, De Gaulle or Pétain.
So what is to be done? Is it possible to support a populist “No” pervaded by the ideology of right-wing tendencies within the middle classes?
No, of course it is not.”
The CPMLM has shown the scientific nature of its analysis. The correctness of its position has allowed the CPMLM to grasp the major events that have followed the election of president Hollande in the history of our country.
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A “right-wing May '68”: protest against gay marriage, the humorist Dieudonné and the “Red Woolen Hats”
For our organization, president Hollade's election was a pretext for an in-depth-analysis of the situation (“François Hollande élu président de la République”).
In our eyes it is an important document as it describes the current situation of social-democracy, which corrupted nature plays an important role in the development of fascism (“Cahuzac the corrupted, an expression of the decadence of the bourgeois superstructure”)
This sheds light upon what we have called a “right-wing May '68” (CPMLM – Document 35).
Decaying capitalism and a decadent bourgeois class make the massive assertion of reactionary forces inevitable. About this, and even if we are not surprised, we found the absence of analysis of the huge rallies against gay marriage, on the part of the far-left, particularly shocking, bordering on a denial of reality.
All the more so as the “conservative revolution” that has been set in motion is terrible and will have severe social consequences; the same could be said about the Merah killings, the popularity of “humourist” Dieudonné, and advents of similar nature such as the “Red Woollen Hats”, an example of pseudo-grassroots popular protest which is in fact led from the top.
The CPMLM slogan, “we are on the threshold of the thirties”, sums it all up: we are in the eye of the storm.
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Anti-fascism, a necessary Front for progressives
Because of our understanding of the inevitable development of fascism, we have tried in the mid-2000's to develop grassroots anti-fascism based on unity among all progressives.
We were over-optimistic in our prospects for two reasons: firstly, the denial of a fascist threat by trotskyism and the anarchist branch allied to it; secondly, the visceral anticommunism spread by anarchism.
Consequently, our calls and efforts towards the unity of antifascist action have been unfruitful. This is not to say that it was a political defeat, rather the contrary: we have endorsed the political choice of anti-fascism, and this is an essential part of our matrix.
In this respect, this has not been a disappointment to us insofar as many antifascist initiatives, mainly from anarchists, now integrate, after a major U-turn, the principle of antifascist unity.
Nevertheless, we have to warn all bona fide antifascists: unless you dig deeper in your analysis – as we have – you will be raising an issue way too big for yourselves.
Fascism is murderous, it kills with the support of immense social forces; it does not consist of a handful of mercenaries and gangsters, it is not a disease that needs to be cured.
Fascism implies the mobilization of the masses, and only a full ideological understanding of romantic anti-capitalism makes retaliation possible, with the awareness that it will end up in civil war.
This is why we call once more for a progressive Front, and for antifascist unity within as broad as possible a framework, with the people at its basis, in the respect of all cultures, the refusal of ethnicism, and the clear assertion of the necessity of social revolution.
A progressive Front should not be controlled by social-democracy, nor play up to the media and the trade unions; it should be independent from all institutions, should have ecology at its core, carry the values of the working class and the demand for social revolution.
This kind of anti-fascism alone can thrive within the masses without being overturned by the inevitable future leaps of fascism, to which petty-bourgeois “anti-fascism” cannot answer back.
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The possibility of a reactionary coup
Dialectical materialism teaches us that it is the most aggressive fraction of the capital, the monopolistic fraction, which takes control in order to lead society towards imperialistic war.
How will this happen in France? We think that central attention should be paid to the hypothesis of a coup, as we have explained in our article: “France : on its way to a military coup and fascism”
There is a long tradition of military coups in our country. It has great importance for the far-right, as the events of February 6th 1934 remind us, but is also part of the tradition of “blanquist” petty-bourgeois far-left.
It is also by means of a military coup that Charles de Gaulle came into power in 1958, imposing his tailor-made, ideology-matching 5th Republic (the parliamentary elections taking place after the presidential elections, plebiscite-type referendums, etc.)
One should also mention similar events in the history of France: Napoleon Bonaparte's 18th Brumaire coup d'Etat in 1799, the insurgencies of 1830 and 1848, Napoleon III's coup on December 2nd 1851 .
There exists in France an antidemocratic tradition of the plebiscite, and it is no coincidence that Charles de Gaulle, the man of French monopolies, has endorsed this style of power. In these circumstances, Marine Le Pen's Front National represents neo-gaullism and is the political centre of gravity of the military coup. However, the whole of the far-right is calling for a coup, thus forming its ideological core.
The idea of military and police intervention to restore “balance” in society is gaining momentum in France, and receiving support for reactionary forces aware of the fact that they have to stifle class struggle and reorganize the state in order to fulfill their plans for imperialistic war.
The CPMLM call for the utmost vigilance on this issue, which always will need further understanding.
The struggle for socialist revolution
Defending our ideological legacy, championing the cause of progress
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Staying true and asserting our orthodox stance on dialectical materialism
The CPMLM asserts the need for absolute discipline wherever the teachings of Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin and Mao are concerned. What matters here are not the historical figures as individuals, but as the vectors of thoughts forming together the science of dialectical materialism.
The French spirit, as shaped by the bourgeoisie, is averse to systems, and has a tendency to be selective, to omit, to add or to amend things as it pleases, in what it considers to be a pool of ideas. The CPMLM is the antithesis of all this.
Science is a coherent system, as is the universe; there is no chaos or separate parts; in order to grasp what is in itself complete and unified, an all-encompassing discipline is necessary.
In this regard, the CPMLM breaks with the erratic, defective conceptions of Marxism as they were developed in France up until now. Marxism is not a method, it is a science. And as a science it has undergone several stages of development, with Leninism and Maoism.
The CPMLM is a curator of the ideological legacy of communism, and this is an ongoing process; but it is already possible to state that the foundations are already present in our matrix, that “the fortress has been built”.
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Integrating ecology into dialectical materialism
Stalin has stated that the strongest fortresses are taken from the inside, and Mao Zedong reformulated this when he spoke of a two-line struggle within any avant garde.
Given the history of France, and the weakness of our organization, this two-line struggle has taken place both within and outside it, the central issue being ecology.
The paradox is that our organization has had to deal with ideological attacks from several groups and individuals, always in an unhealthy or opportunistic way, sometimes even with heavy antisemitic undertones, but never on the subject of ecology.
This is because this ecologist stance championed by the CPMLM is precisely what the “black” line is trying to refute. Locked in their bourgeois prejudices, they reject ecology and in this are also targeting dialectical materialism, as the science that brings understanding of our planet as a biosphere, as a whole forming a system.
Here we find the petty-bourgeois tendency to reject the systematic spirit that comes with dialectical materialism. Also at stake is the domination of the bourgeoisie, the defense of its traditions and productions.
But it is obvious for any progressive person that nuclear power stations and slaughterhouses cannot be constitutive of communist culture. Moreover, understanding the capitalist mode of production is impossible without a correct analysis of the ongoing ecocide destroying everything that living matter has taken years to produce.
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Questions of organization
The CPMLM is a revolutionary organization; it is not the political arm of “hard” trade-unionism. Our choice of priorities is based on ideology and on the analysis of reality.
It is the only correct way to go in the context of the cultural-ideological struggle our organisation has to carry out against the bourgeoisie. The CPMLM rejects para-unionist activities and prefers political work, which consists winning over sectors of the masses to the cause of socialist revolution.P
For this reason our organization has always paid great attention to the individual culture of each activist, to link personal experience to personal tasks, so that fulfillment comes with political activity.
This requires discipline and a high ideological level, and sometimes, for class reasons, the results have not lived up to expectations; fascism and ecocide are gaining ground every day, this must be addressed.
Great attention must be paid to instruction, not for short term purposes but in order to provide to the future thousands of revolutionaries who will rise, the means to learn, absorb, and act adequately. We should think in terms of era, not in terms of individuals.
International issues
9. On Nepalese revisionism
There have been major revolutionary developments in Nepal in the early 2000's and our organizations has has paid due attention to it. People's war was indeed enjoying a great success, and was fueled by an orthodox Marxist-Leninist-Maoist communist party.
This meant that at the time, the Nepalese Communist Party (Maoist) had an enormous responsibility: making all progressives in the world converge towards authentic communist ideology.
The Nepalese Communist Party, however, has not been up to the task. Its leader, Prachanda, has developed wrong theses, which soon disclosed their revisionist nature. The situation was complex, as the democratic revolution in Nepal had to be supported without yielding an inch to revisionism.
At some point, however, it all went too far; not only were the principles of people's war abandoned, but pseudo-Maoist revisionist forces were able to step forward, as did the Revolutionary Communist Party of Canada, then very close to the NCP (Maoist), and to spread its intensely opportunistic propaganda.
So in 2005-2006 the CPMLM considered it was relevant to issue a criticism of the revisionist conceptions in Nepal, and it was the first MLM organization to do so (“Nepal: carry through with the revolution or fall under sugar-coated bullets?” / “The Nepalese revolution at a turning point: try something new, or “reform” the country?” / “Prachanda, a disciple of modern revisionism" / About Nepalese revisionism and the international communist movement”)
The collapse of the Nepalese revolution has shown the exactness and value of the criticisms made by the CPMLM. We have correctly defended the principles of dialectical materialism and Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.
One should not overlook how this criticism is also significant on a national plane. By rejecting Prachanda's theses, so-called “prachandism”, we also reject French revisionism, as Maurice Thorez's theses were the same: rejection of the dictatorship of the proletariat in favour of a multi-party system, republicanism and the “broadening” of democracy as a “revolutionary” perspective.
As we know, the concept of dictatorship of the proletariat was abandoned in France by the French “Communist” Party when its General Secretary Georges Marchais announced in a TV broadcast in January 1976 that it was to be removed from the party's constitution.
During the 17th congress of the French “Communist” Party in 1964, the same George Marchais was still taking the defense of the principle of the “dictatorship of the proletariat”, but he added:
“Indeed, during the last congresses, our Party has clearly stated that a partnership between communists and socialists is possible and necessary, not only to solve today's problems but also tomorrow's, in the struggle for the building of socialism.
Besides, our plans for a resolution reaffirms that “our Party rejects the single-party system as a mandatory requirement for building socialism”.
But we have gone even further. We consider, indeed, that besides the unified party of the working class that would serve socialism and the national interest, other parties will be able to exist and collaborate in building socialism, a process that would be largely improved by a large alliance between the working class, the working peasantry, intellectuals ans the middle classes.”
This rejection of the principle of a leading vanguard organized into a Communist Party inevitably leads to a meltdown. The CPMLM has defended essential principles on a general level, this being all the more important as the champions of Prachandism have subsequently joined forces in an international fraction, pretending to support a red fraction within the revisionist Nepalese movement.
The CPMLM has responded with an important document : “Line, tendency, fraction and the question of Nepal”.
It has also taken part in the struggle against this opportunist trend, which was dubbed “centrist” because of its unwillingness to part with revisionism.
10. The international unity of communists and the question of ideology
Our organization has taken part in several joint declarations these last years, notably every 1st of May:
- in 2009: Imperialist capitalism in crisis – Long live socialism and communism!
- in 2010: Proletarians and oppressed peoples of all countries unite against imperialism!
- in 2012: Let's struggle for the triumph of Global Socialist Revolution!
We have also issued a joint declaration on centrism:
- in 2011: The international unity of communists requires the defeat of revisionism and centrism!
This was also the case with our comrades from Bangladesh and Afghanistan:
- in 2011 : One day, Free India will dawn upon the world!
- again in 2011: Let's Face climate change!
- in 2013: Long live the thought of Ibrahim Kaypakkaya!
Finally, we have issued a common document with our comrades in Bangladesh, Belgium and Afghanistan about the concept of a guiding thought (The guiding thought at the heart of Maoism), published on the 1st of May 2013.
This perspective is according to us the best way forward. It is currently impossible to move forward in international unity without a complete overhaul and serious discussions about ideological questions. Vagueness is an ideological poison. This is why the CPMLM does not take a stance as a “red fraction” within the International Communist Movement, but as an organization which function is to elaborate a red line, together with other organizations.