by Melvin Little of the SPUSA Fist and Rose Tendency
The Socialist Party USA is 104 years old, and it is the only political party that exist in the United States which is explicitly democratic socialist. As democratic socialists, we reject all tyrannyweather it comes in the guise of communism,capitalism, fascism, monarchies, ortheocracies. Our movement is based on justice on the local, state, national, and international level. Just recently, the SPUSA National Committeeimposed a new directive and/orguideline upon the party's International Commission. It distinctly forbids the commission indealing with any political party, organization,or movementofficially affiliated with theSocialist International (the worldwidebody of democratic socialist, social democratic, and labor parties). There area significant number of SPers which feels like this is a gag order of sorts,becausesome of*us* do have dealings with the SI and its affiliates around the world.
The Fist and RoseTendency is a new caucus within the Socialist Party USA which disagree with the guidelines and/or directive. We feel that such a imposition within the International Commission is an example of acreeping democratic centralism within the party. Our party is closer to the social democratic tradition ideal than it would ever be to a Leninist one. The National Committee voting majority acted in a Marxist Leninist manner which contradicts the political orientation of Eugene V. Debs and Norman Thomas.
Although the Fist and Rose Tendency favor friendly ties with theSocialist International (and even eventualofficial membership within the global democratic left group), we also favor individual SP members who are not particularly supportive of the SI to reach out to all democratic socialists outside the SI (ranging from mainstream social democratic parties all the way to "reformed communist movements" which broke with its Leninist past). That is the difference between those that want the party to be internally democratic and open and those that wants to keep us isolated from the mainstream left.
The SPUSA Fist and Rose Tendency calls on the National Convention to rescind the directive and/or guidelines which forbids the SPUSA from directly dealing with theany of the parties, organizations, and movements connected officially with the Socialist International. Althoughthe Fist and Rose Tendency agrees with the revolutionists that people like Tony Blair and Gerhard Schroderhas been an embarrassment to the socialist movement, we also think thatthe directive is a poison pill which couldprevent us from working withsuitable elected officials, left-wing caucuses, and organizationsaround some of the less than perfect parties within the SI. We have friends abroad. For example, there's no reason to believe that LondonMayor Ken Livingstone, Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn, the British Labour Party-Socialist Campaign Group, the Christian Socialist Movement, Labour Against the War, and other movements, organizations, and every other electedofficial within Labour that opposes the 3rd Way and the Iraq War as some sort of adversary. The same goes to all the other mass social democratic parties across the globe in every continent that's acted like "less than perfect socialists." There's no socialist movement that is either reformist nor revolutionary whichis "germ free ideologically." We are all human.
We want tosee thedirective and/or guidelines which prohibits any positive mention of any SI party to be rescinded. The directive and/or guidelines are democratic centralist in nature. It also contradicts the party's 104 year history. The Socialist Party of America was formed for the same reason that the British Labour Party, the French Socialist Party, theSwedishSocial Democratic Party, theMovement for Democratic Change of Zimbabwe, the IsraeliSocial Democratic Peace and Civil Rights Party (Yachad), the New Democratic Party of Canada, theJamaican People's National Party, the Puerto Rican Independence Party, the Mexican Party for Democratic Revolution, the Spanish Socialist Worker's Party, and the Portuguese Socialist Party were. And of course, that reason was to fight capitalism. Some of these parties changed for the worst (at times), but there are vibrant signs that there is an emerging movement within the party's left-wing to bring backinto themainstream of challenging capitalism (long after thedemise of communism).
If we are to be a democratic socialist multi tendency party, we need to stop weeding everyone out that is suspected of being a social democrat. There's no dishonor in social democracy. Virtually every "social democrat" in the SPUSA feel that we have enough room for Marxists, anarchists, left-greens, as well as social democrats to be members and active within our party. This is what makes usthe most similar toall those SI parties around the world. If we burn our ideological bridges in the name of ideological purity, then wewill remain irrelevant. Please, consider having the directive and/or guideline that's been recently imposed on the SPUSA International Commission rescinded. For more information about the Fist and Rose Tendency of the Socialist Party USA, log on to (http://fistandrose.blogspot.com/).