sold us out, with their facade of tives left open to us now are near respectability, their Hampstead suicidal ones. For unless a miracle liberal cliches and their pleas happens we are expected to return to concessions and mild reforms. We college on the 4th of November to were led into the trap of negotiating work within a system and under with petty, Concervative councillors, conditions which are a direct result and with the important Department of the conservative backlash. We will of Education and Science. We were be without our comrades who have told to talk through the traitorous been victimised, and with the probN.U.S. who did all in their power lem of educating about 270 new and to ensure that the new participatory worried students of the true nature democracy at the college would situation. The reactionary crumble and fall and be once again staff will attempt to condition replaced by their archaic, elitist new people into believing and acWe were of course cepting the situation as they would structure smashed, our best militant spokes- wish them to. men have been thrown out "for The courses of action left open academic reasons", or have been to us are tew. We have certain keep their mouths shut. ourses isn't worth bothering listing our have been cut without a squeak of weaknesses I'll concentrate on what - JOHN MacLEAN IN 1915.
It is December - a day as bleak of revolutionary Marxism. Let this and raw as a lifetime spent in the November 30th, the 45th anniversary sweatshops Send Pole onelles of of his death, marked by Clydeside. Over the bridges, span- increased interest in the one ning the Clyde, and from Gorbals who succeeded in mobilising a signiand Govan. little knots of men make ficant section of the British working their way to Eglinton Toll. There class around the ideas of Marxism, they join the thousands of workers and who more than anyone else was who have been gathering for hours. responsible for makine Clydeside Forming into a long concourse they "red". march off to follow to Eastwcod Born the son of a displaced crofter Cemetery the remains of one of the from Mull, John carly in his life greatest and most influential Marxists experienced thro hitterneed of life of western Europe, John MacLean. under capitalism. his father dying at There are few working class the age of 43. from a lifetime of leaders who have been more totally overwork and undernourishment.
devoted to the working class, there Thus when John succeeded in going have been fewer still who have to Glasgow University and becoming suffered more for their determina- a schoolteacher, he resolved to use tion. and yet have doggedly kept his knowledge in the service of his fighting to the end. and there are class.
few who have been more disgrace- MacLean was a brilliant agitator fully ignored and forgotten by those and propagandist, come of his who profess to follow the principles classes in Marxist Economics had our trendy, turned on society. of perpetuating this situation, those This is the fundamental lesson that that are not are at this moment being we have learned. We have discovered hounded out of their positions by the fallacy of the myth that sur- reactionary, authoritarian elements, rounded the so-called work of art. or by the worried heroes of the Some of us have learned even to bourgeoisie, the left over avantmistrust those people who would guard, Most of these enlightened wish to impart their cultural exper- people are at Hornsey. They and the tise to the "masses". What are we need immediate support painting? what are we learning, and and solidarity. It is no longer merely who do we produce art for? Should a section of art students fighting for standards", or should we devote our- we devote ourselves "raising the right to paint and design what selves "popularisation"? From we want and where we want, we what basis is art to be raised? From have something to contribute to the the basis of the bourgeoisie? From the basis of the petty bourgeois in- war against the rotten capitalist system. We want to communicate tellectuals? I say no. It must come from the basis of the masses of and take a hand in finally smashing workers. Nor does this mean raising attendances in the thousands. During Bolsheviks made MacLean the first his life he built up strong bonds of Soviet consul, (not recognised by the trust and affection between himself Government). This was no purely and the workers of Clydeside; on honorary position, he energetically one occasion he was hauled from his took up work in aid of Russian classroom to lead a mass demonstra- exiles in Scotland, who were being tion of shipyard workers. persecuted by a vindictive GovernBut MacLean best deserves to be ment remembered for his activities during His last ears were spent attemptthe First Imperialist War, like Con- ing to build up a Party which stood nolly in Ireland. Luxembourg and for a "Scottish Workers Republic" Leibknecht in Germany and the and in the present political situation Bolsheviks in Russia, he called on in Scotland this has led to renewed the workers to fight their huun interest in his ideas. There can be bourgeoisie. no doubt however that he would MacLean suffered a great deal for haup little time for come of the this: he was given several prison Scottish National Party opportunists terms for sedition, and carried out who are now climbng on the bandhunger strikes in protest. At his most wagon, and praising his example. famous trial in 1918 he made a Socialists should remember Macbrilliant speech, in which he turned the court's accusations against the Lean, re-examine his ideas, and take bosses Government. up his fight. _ the fight for the In recognition of his courage the socialist revolution. FRED HALLIDAY.
Roger's letter brings up a number of vital questions on which we disagree and which I shall try to answer. But I can deal with some of what he says merely by showing what the "Dwarf" has actually published. Much of his critique is pointless since we do not hold, and have never expressed, the views he attributes to us.
This is especially true of our views on the students. Roger feels some need to emphasise test only the working class can make a revolution. We have never denied it. The theory of the students as the vanguard is not a theory of the students as the agents of revolution.
The article by Mandel in our second issue that he so attacks makes this point quite clear: "For without the proletarian socialist revolation there will be no overthrow of the capitalist system". This is hardly an evasion. Mandel repeats himself: * ... we know very well that neither by virtue of their numbers nor by virtue of the place which they hold today in society can the students alone overthrow bourgeois society". Our editorial in issue number 5 repeats this point: "One thing is clear. Students cannot make the revolution by themselves", and again "France showed what the students can - detonate a proletarian explosion; but it also showed that without a revolutionary organisation of the workers the explosion can be crushed".
If Roger were to re-read these texts and not misinterpret their headWe are not trying to build a general model out of what happened in France, but the French events did show that under certain conditions and revolutionary process. The events in France have not disproven Marxism; but Marxist theory, which is the self-consciousness of the revolutionary left at any moment of history, must develop with history and incorporate changes in bourgeois society into the theory of how to destroy that society. That is what we are beginning to do; and a discussion of the role of students is clearly central to the development of a revolutionary selfThere are a number of other issues. Roger's list of the questions now facing us provokes two responses. First, we have discussed all these questions. He can hardly accuse us of evading" the question of Stalinism when in issue number 5 we published an article by himself on that very subject. The accusation of evading Vietnam is ludicrous to anyone who has read the last issue. The "revolutionary role of the working class in the metropolitan countries" has also been constantly reiterated and various aspects of the working class struggle in capitalist society have been examined in these page _ the dockers strike, the counter-revolutionary role of the British Communist Party, industrial illness and workers' control.
The second response that Roger's list evokes is that it is curiously limited. He does not include racialism, student power and the liberation struggles in Africa and Latin America as issues that we should be concerned with. This is very significant, since these are essential components of the revolutionary situation as we now face it. His simplistic adherence to one formula that only the workers can make the revolution - prevents him from applying this formula to a concrete situation, and prevents him from understanding the diversity of contradictions we are now confronting.
His most substantial charges concern VSC and the extra-parliamentary opposition. The slogan "Don't Demand, Occupy", far from being adven received triumphant validation in the occupation of the LSE ov demonstration weekend, when precisely that discussion of political that Roger wants took place, His comparison between a demonstratie a strike is highly abstract and unrealistic. Even if a strike is always a potent weapon than a demonstration, this doesn't mean socialists shou go on demonstrations. Roger's comparison also ignores the difficu organising a working class strike on an issue not directly related interests of the strikers.
Moreover, his answer to the question is rather mechanical. A st often a more potent weapon than a demonstration; a strike hits process of production itself. But a strike may well put forward corporate, economic demands that in no way challenge the system; n a demonstration that openly denounces capitalism and imperialism rep a far more advanced level of revolutionary consciousness.
He accuses the VSC of changing its policy. VSC has a clear p position on which it has always stood: solidarity with the NLF of Vietnam. The NF themselves have frequently stated their revolu gratitude for VSC's policies. If anyone is "evading" the issue of Viet is Roger, and those like him, who refuse to march on demonstrati solidarity with the Vietnamese revolution. His charge of about-turns be made with far more accurate force against Roger Smith himsel nine months ago was lyrical about the Cuban Revolution and six ago was calling on us all to emulate the militants of Grosvenor Square He denounces the call for an extra-parliamentary opposition. Is support for thé Vietnamese revolution and opposition to the inval Czechoslovakia "unprincipled"? The principles for which the " stands are clear to anyone who has read our articles and editori: building of a revolutionary student movement, the worker-student a the anti-imperialist struggle and proletarian revolution. If these are bag of reformist theories" where are we?
We are well aware of the limitations of the British left, the pr of building a proletarian party and the concrete political tasks that to face. The "Black Dwarf" is also well aware of its own limitation of which are a result of internal weakness, others of which are a re of the British left as a whole. In recent months Roger Smith has be political associate of the Socialist Labour League and the views in h are similar to those of the SLU's bi-weekly "Newsletter". It is "Dwarf" policy to engage polemics with other left-wing publicatic the issues Roger has raised need clarifying and this has served to our political position.
The role that we now intend to play is a complex one, beth re criticising and going beyond the left as it is now constituted. That not the organ of a party is a limit on what we can do, but th concrete role and a real need for a left-wing paper that simult adopts a stance on political issues and reflects a diversity of opinion left. By revitalising the moribund intellectual and political climate of and by publishing views on a wide range of political and cultura the "Dwarf can play a very important function in building the tionary left. Attacks that ignore what we have published and ig situation in which we now are, cannot serve us in any way.
13.8 THE BLACK DWARF
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strengths and weaknesses. Since it placed on probation and told to
John John MacLean MacLean Lives Lives
"I have been enlisted for fifteen years in the socialist army, whichis the only army worth fighting for. God damn all other armies!" John John MacLean MacLean Lives Lives