260 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
260 lines
11 KiB
Plaintext
Keywords: Organisation, role, vanguard, revolution.
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a Workers Solidarity Movement position paper
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The role of the Anarchist organisation
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General Principles
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1. The role of the Anarchist organisation is to
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popularise and fight for the creation of a society based
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on the principles of anarchism, i.e.; individual
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freedom, collective management of society by its
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workers, participatory democracy.
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2. We recognise that such a society can only be built by
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a conscious movement of the working class using its
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industrial power.
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3. A successful revolutionary transformation is
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dependent on two essential criteria being present in the
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working class:
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a) Widespread revolutionary consciousness. This has to
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consist of the following:
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i) a rejection of both the exploitation and
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authoritarianism of Capitalism.
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ii) an aspiration in the class to reorganise society in
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a new and better way around its own direct needs and
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interests.
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iii) recognition in the class of the tenet that only the
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working class itself can make and secure the
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revolutionary transformation of society and that
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following from that only the councils created by the
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class in the workplaces and communities represent any
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authority on these matters in the new society. No other
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power centres in society to be allowable.
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b) Industrial organisation and solidarity in the class
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to be sufficiently developed such that physical control
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over the means of production and distribution can be
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achieved and all remnants of the state be abolished.
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4. The role of the anarchist organisation and the
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anarchist idea in this is obvious. Anarchist ideas link
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a criticism of Capitalist society with a vision of a new
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way of organising human society. This link involves
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practical understanding of the means necessary and
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acceptable to achieve results but also to help build the
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confidence of the class in its own abilities and
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decision making power. Clearly our role is to spread the
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influence of our ideas as and wide as possible.
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The organisation of the class
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5. The anarchist organisation sees itself as part of the
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working-class, its anarchist ideas a historical
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development of the experiences of workers who as an
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exploited class seek to create a new world free of
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tyranny and exploitation of any form.
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6. We wish to win the most widespread understanding and
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influence for our anarchist ideas and methods in the
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class and in society, primarily because we believe that
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these alone will expedite a successful revolutionary
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transformation of society. In this sense we recognise
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our role within the class as being a "leadership of
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ideas".
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7. We reject the notion that the organisation is a
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vanguard in the class because of its "leadership of
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ideas". Such terminology, particularly because of its
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historical associations has anti-anarchist connotations
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which cannot be accommodated by a revolutionary
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organisation. We recognise that a vanguard does exist
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within the class but that its central characteristic is
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that its politics are derived from the concrete
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experience of fighting Capitalism on the shop floor.
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8. While recognising the presence of a vanguard within
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the class which most obviously reflects its uneven
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development, our aim as an organisation will always be
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to minimise such unevenness without compromising
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political content. We recognise and will always fight
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against that influence in our class that seeks to
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promote the need for a permanent, unelected leadership
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no matter what context, explanation or excuse is used.
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9. We seek influence for our ideas in all class
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organisations. In real terms that means WSM will go
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forward for all positions in the unions and other bodies
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where there is the possibility of mandating and recall.
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We will never accept any position that is not under the
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control of the members of that body. Such positions are
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not ends in themselves. The struggle to win them must be
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bound up with a fight for more democracy, more
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mandating, more control. We are striving for the self-
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activity of the many.
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10. We have to be able to explain and clarify what is
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happening in society. We have to be capable of combating
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false ideas such as Social democracy and Leninism. We
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aim to be a 'collective memory' for the class, both in
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terms of the above and of keeping alive and developing
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the traditions of the labour movement and anarchism.
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11. Unlike a certain tendency within the anarchist
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movement we do not fight against the state as if it were
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some abstraction unrelated to the division of society
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into classes. The state, in itself, is not the real
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enemy - states are the product of this division into
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exploiting and exploited classes. To treat it as
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something that exists independently of society leads
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into a swamp of muddle-headed liberal politics. We stand
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for the "abolition of the state" because we are totally
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opposed to authoritarianism and to any form of society
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that needs a state; i.e... a society where a minority
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rules.
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12. Our role is that of educators and instigators. In so
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far as we are leaders it is because we are a
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"leadership" of ideas. We have no time for the
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leadership of personalities or that of a higher
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committee of a party. We have no wish to be what the
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Leninists call "The Revolutionary Leadership". that
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implies their party has reached a stage where it has the
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"right" to take decisions for the class (whether they
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like it or not). We reject this sort of leadership as
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authoritarian and destructive of workers' democracy.
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13. History teaches us that organisations like ours can
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experience a rapid growth in membership and support for
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its ideas during a revolutionary situation....but also
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that a certain size is necessary for this to happen. So
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it is important that we recruit but this will be
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worthless unless we ensure that people are joining us
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because they understand and agree with anarchism and
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share our libertarian values.
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It is not enough to build an small organisation with
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many sympathisers. Where there is no clear line between
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members and supporters a massive central apparatus is
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needed to hold together a mass of half-politicised
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people in a series of political activities. Political
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discussion gets toned down, a lack of seriousness creeps
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in. This in turn reduces the capacity of members to make
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independent political evaluations and provides the basis
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for a dependence on a central bureaucracy. This would be
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in absolute contradiction to our anarchist values.
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14. "Only the truth is revolutionary". Whoever first
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said this was spot on. We do not raise as immediate
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demands those that are impossible at the time because of
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the balance of forces. We do not play at politics. We do
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not fool, intimidate or manipulate workers towards
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anarchism. We aim to win the arguments for change and
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anarchism. It is not part of our programme to try to
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take power "in the name of the workers". Anarchism will
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either be the creation of a free and politically aware
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working class....or it will not be anarchism.
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15. We understand the centrality of struggle and
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organisation in the workplace because that is where we
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have real power. But this does not mean that we neglect
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or ignore the struggles that take place in other areas
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of life. We don't. We support all struggles that can
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improve the conditions we live under. At every
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opportunity we seek to bring these struggles into the
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union and workplaces, we try to bring the potential
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strength of organised workers to bear in their
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favour....to link up the different struggles into an
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understanding of their common roots in capitalism, and
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to establish the legitimacy of political issues being
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taken up on the shopfloor.
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16. We support all progressive struggles both for their
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own aims and for the increased confidence that
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campaigning can give people.
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17. In all modern revolutionary situations workers have
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thrown up their own organs in the form of workers'
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councils. They may have gone under different names -
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revolutionary committees, soviets, etc. - but the
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essential form has remained the same whether it was in
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Russia 1917, Spain 1936, or Hungary 1956.
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18. These councils act not just as the best means of
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mobilising the class against the bosses but also lay the
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basis for the administration of the new society. Within
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them revolutionaries have to fight the ideas of
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authoritarian tendencies and continually argue that the
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new workers' democracy must not delegate away its power
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to any elite, or allow any minority to seize that power.
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Within them members of the revolutionary organisation
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must be the "driving force". This means winning the
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battle of ideas. It does NOT mean capturing the leading
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positions, vesting them with undue authority and then
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dishonestly interpreting this as a mandate for giving
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orders.
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19. We oppose all ideas of power in the post-
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revolutionary period being wielded by "the party of the
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working class". The division of labour between those who
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rule and those who are ruled has lasted too long. It can
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only be ended by the "self-emancipation" of the working-
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class. All power must be exercised by the workers
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council.....and by nobody else. Such power shall be
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compatible with the libertarian slogan that individual
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freedom will know no limit except that it does not take
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away the freedom of others.
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20. This is not to deny the need for efficient co-
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ordination and decision making in all spheres of life.
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The point is that the ultimate authority will be the
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democratic, mass organs of the class. Let there be no
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talk of the state co-existing with the workers
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councils....the councils would be co-existed out of
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existence! Instead of the state there will be the
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federation of workers councils.
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21. It is on this issue that our fundamental difference
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with Leninism is made clear. We agree with Lenin that
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authority can only be defeated by authority, that the
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authority of the bosses will be destroyed by the
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authority of the workers. We agree on the need for a
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lead to be given within the class. but while our
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leadership is one of persuasion and education, the
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Leninist party goes way beyond this and tries to grab
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power through control of the state. It seeks to exercise
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the authority of the party over the workers. In doing
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this it prepares the way for the growth of a new
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oppressive ruling class.
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22. After the initial stage of the revolution when the
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ruling class are dispossessed of their wealth and power,
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the revolutionary organisation will continue to grow.
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There will be a massive surge of workers into its ranks
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because its politics will seem all the more concrete and
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realistic. In the transitional period (that time between
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the overthrow of the old order and consolidation of the
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new) the main task will be further anarchist ideas and
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values, and fighting for all power to be taken by
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workers councils. As the revolution consolidates its
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gains and begins the reconstruction of society the task
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is to help the class towards the anarchist ideal. As
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this ideal becomes more and more established and the
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obstacles to its achievement fade away, the
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revolutionary organisation becomes less necessary and
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eventually vanishes completely.
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Jan 2 1991
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WSM can be contacted at
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WSM
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PO Box 1528
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Dublin 8
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Ireland
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