First Published:The Workers’ Advocate Vol. 4, No. 3, April 23, 1973.
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Paul Saba
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(Right now there is tremendous enthusiasm and discussion in Marxist-Leninist circles all over North America about the upcoming CONFERENCE OF NORTH AMERICAN MARXIST-LENINISTS. As part of its preparations for the CONFERENCE the AMERICAN COMMUNIST WORKERS MOVEMENT (MARXIST-LENINIST) has called upon all comrades and friends to pay close attention to SUMMING UP HISTORICAL EXPERIENCE. In light of this call, a comrade has submitted the following article on the REGINA CONFERENCE.)
The REGINA CONFERENCE OF NORTH AMERICAN MARXIST-LENINISTS took place in May 1969 was organized by the CANADIAN INTERNATIONALISTS and delegates from Canada, Quebec and the United States participated. The REGINA CONFERENCE marked an historic victory for MARXISM-LENINISM MAO TSETUNG THOUGHT in North America and was a mortal blow against revisionism. It can truthfully be said that the REGINA CONFERENCE brought the lessons of the GREAT PROLETARIAN CULTURAL REVOLUTION in China to North America with tremendous impact. It marked an end to the period of darkness among Marxist-Leninists and the beginning of the historical epoch of rebuilding genuine Marxist-Leninist Parties of the proletariat to lead the anti-imperialist, proletarian revolution. The significance of the REGINA CONFERENCE for the Canadian and Quebec working class and people is summed up in the POLITICAL REPORT OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CANADA (MARXIST-LENINIST). For the American proletariat the REGINA CONFERENCE was the birthplace of the AMERICAN COMMUNIST WORKERS MOVEMENT (MARXIST-LENINIST), first national center for the widescale dissemination and living study and application of MAO TSETUNG THOUGHT.
The REGINA CONFERENCE itself was a CONFERENCE OF A COMPLETELY NEW TYPE. It was not an “educational conference” or a “gab-fest” like the conferences of the “new left”. It was not a revisionist conference for promoting reformism and betraying Marxism-Leninism. It was not a conference of bureaucrats lording it over the masses. The REGINA CONFERENCE was a MASS DEMOCRATIC and PROLETARIAN REVOLUTIONARY CONFERENCE. The REGINA CONFERENCE was FIRSTLY AN ARENA OF CLASS STRUGGLE, in which a decisive victory was won over revisionism in the sphere of organizing the inner-party class struggle.
There were basically two types of people who attended the REGINA. CONFERENCE, representing two antagonistic classes, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. On one side the proletariat. stood certain chance individuals who had never lifted a finger for revolution, while on the other stood disciplined cadres, the INTERNATIONALISTS, who had come out of the mass movement and were solely dedicated to serving the revolution. The chance individuals wanted to enhance their “understanding” of the “laws of revolution” apart from actually serving the revolutionary masses and hence they raised all sorts of detached questions and objections to revolution in order to “be more convinced” before they could participate in revolution. The revolutionary cadres on the other hand had no desire to enhance their “understanding” apart from serving the revolutionary masses and building the revolutionary party. The revolutionary cadres came for the sole purpose of summing up experience in light of MARXISM-LENINISM MAO TSETUNG THOUGHT in order to draw guidelines for changing the world; that is, they came to find the points in revolutionary mass work which needed immediate attention and develop definite forms, methods and disciplines for changing the situation amongst the masses. In other words, while the chance individuals wanted the conference to sit on the sidelines and “reach unity” based on some bourgeois individual, so-called “advanced understanding” of Marxism-Leninism, the genuine Marxist-Leninists took an active stand and UNITED WITH ONE ANOTHER ON THE BASIS OF THE MARXIST-LENINIST POLITICAL LINE, that is on the basis of WHAT WAS TO BE DONE to serve the revolutionary masses and build the proletarian party. This class struggle was characterized as ORGANIZE TO UNDERSTAND THE WORLD versus ORGANIZE TO CHANGE THE WORLD. The reactionary elements first attacked the revolutionary form of the conference in order to prevent the revolutionary summation from developing? with all the arrogance of the revisionist new czars they demanded “due respect to the status of the delegates”, demanded to fraternize on an individual basis opposing the organizational discipline of the conference and refusing to come under its revolutionary authority. The staunch INTERNATIONALISTS led by Comrade Hardial Bains mobilized the vast majority of genuine delegates around the proletarian revolutionary line, isolated and defeated the bourgeois reactionary elements. This struggle released tremendous enthusiasm and initiative amongst the delegates and crystallized and concentrated the MASS DEMOCRATIC METHOD OF WORK. This revolutionary method of work and the lessons of this historic conference provided a firm foundation fop the development of the COMMUNIST PARTY OF CANADA (MARXIST-LENINIST) and the AMERICAN COMMUNIST WORKERS MOVEMENT (MARXIST-LENINIST). Since the REGINA CONRENCE the same class struggle has taken place in the various conferences and units of the communist movement all across North America. That is the class struggle between conscious participation and development of over-all revolutionary policy and disciplined implementation of the revolutionary policy versus non-participation in the development of the policy and non-implementation of the policy.
The LESSONS QF THE REGINA CONFERENCE CAN BE SUMMED UP:
1) IT IS OBJECTIVE INNER AND OUTER PARTY CUSS STRUGGLE WHICH GIVES RISE TO CHANGE, DEVELOPMENT AND MOTION IN THE WORLD. By uniting on the basis of a definite analysis and a PRACTICAL PROGRAM FOR CHANGING THE SITUATION (that is, by uniting on the basis of the Marxist-Leninist political line), the Marxist-Leninists are able to go amongst the masses and advance the objective class struggle against the bourgeoisie. By waging class struggle inside, the Marxist-Leninists weed out the revisionists and dogmatists, clarify and purify the - analysis and further develop the practical guidelines which leads to a further development of the objective class struggle outside. The revisionists and dogmatists seek to liquidate the objective inner and outer party class struggle in hopes of liquidating the Party and revolution. They substitute abstract so-called “political discussions” for concrete analysis of concrete conditions and haggle over details in place of developing a practical political program.
2) PROLETARIAN IDEOLOGY IS THE IDEOLOGY OF CHANGE, DEVELOPMENT AND MOTION. The REGINA CONFERENCE correctly handled the relationship between theory and practice, showing that social-practice is primary and theory must be developed solely to serve revolutionary practice. The bourgeois intellectuals hold the opposite view and seek to prevent revolutionary mass work from developing and to suppress the development of concrete guidelines for proletarian revolution which can only be based on analysis of actual social practice.
3) MASS DEMOCRACY, which brings all the cadres under the supervision of the masses, is the key to developing the inner and outer party class struggle. While revisionists utilize a fascist and bureaucratic method of work based on 1) extreme contempt for the masses and 2) mystification of Marxism-Leninism Mao Tsetung Thought, the REGINA CONFERENCE and the MASS DEMOCRATIC METHOD OF WORK is based on 1) complete reliance on the revolutionary aspirations and capabilities of the masses and 2) arming the masses with Marxism-Leninism Mao Tsetung Thought.
In May 1969 our analysis showed that the main priority in the U.S. was the building of a revolutionary party of the proletariat. Because of the dominant influence of bourgeois and revisionist ideology amongst the masses, the revolutionary cadre were unable to come forward to participate in building the party, thus the main missing ingredient was proletarian ideology. On this basis the ACWM (ML) was formed to take up the widescale dissemination and living study and application of MAO TSETUNG THOUGHT and prepare public opinion for antifascist, proletarian revolution. During 4 years we have learned that only through objective class struggle, that is only through the development of mass democracy amongst the working and oppressed masses, can the masses grasp Marxism-Leninism, overthrow revisionism in practice and contribute towards building the party. We have been building the instruments of working class propaganda to serve the revolutionary mass movement through active initiative of and participation in MASS DEMOCRATIC, ANTI-FASCIST STRUGGLES. We have established disciplined basic units in several cities, begun the establishment of a definite national leadership, led mass democratic, anti-fascist struggles in the universities, communities and places of work, carried out study and investigation amongst the masses all across the country and thus made a small start in developing the class analysis of U.S. society. Internally we have waged struggle against those bourgeois elements who have gotten “stuck” on the sidelines at crucial stages in the development of the communist organization and who refused to take BUILDING THE PARTY AS PRIMARY. When problems have faced us these bourgeois elements have refused to wage objective inner and outer party class struggle and summing up for the purpose of solving the problems, but instead have actively worked to split and undermine the organization. Thus during 4 years of revolutionary work, definite guidelines for the mass democratic, anti-fascist revolution have emerged:
1) ALWAYS TAKE DISSEMINATION, LIVING STUDY AND APPLICATION OF MAO TSETUNG THOUGHT AS A FIRST PRINCIPLE;
2) ALWAYS PERSIST IN BUILDING THE COMMUNIST PARTY AS THE DECISIVE FACTOR IN ADVANCING THE REVOLUTION;
3) INITIATE AND LEAD MASS DEMOCRATIC, ANTI-FASCIST STRUGGLE IN ORDER TO AROUSE THE MASSES AND BUILD THE PARTY;
4) ADHERE RIGIDLY TO THE MASS DEMOCRATIC METHOD OF WORK.
Our analysis has proven entirely correct through our own experience as well as the experience of other Marxist-Leninist groups and individuals. IT IS AN HISTORICALLY PROVEN FACT THAT SINCE 1969 ALL THE MARXIST-LENINISTS WHO HAVE FOUGHT TO RE-ENUNCIATE THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF MARXISM-LENINISM AMONGST THE MASSES have advanced and contributed to building the revolutionary party. Today the many Marxist-Leninist centers which have struggled against revisionism are coming forward to participate in organizing the historic CONFERENCE OF NORTH AMERICAN MARXIST-LENINISTS to be held in Chicago, May 24-28.
Today as well as a new trend developing amongst the Marxist-Leninist forces, there is a rise of a new style of revisionist, the direct descendants of the “new left”. These neo-revisionists although talking in the abstract about unity and about Marxism- Leninism Mao Tsetung Thought have declared themselves independent of 1) the actual historical experience of Marxism-Leninism in North America and 2) independant of the concrete steps being taken by the Marxist-Leninists to build unity and develop the objective inner and outer party class struggle. These neo-revisionists refuse to fight for the Marxist-Leninist political line amongst the masses and prefer to bring economism to the workers. They refuse to fight for Marxism-Leninism Mao Tsetung Thought amongst the masses and prefer to keep it as a plaything for the bourgeois intellectuals, while promoting bourgeois ideology amongst the workers. They refuse to contribute to building the Party and prefer to build “worker’s organizations”, reformist “mass movements” and “leave the party to build itself, at some later date” (much later). On the one hand they organize their “educational conferences” and “united front conferences”, while on the other hand they refuse to come under the discipline of sitting together with the Marxist-Leninists to develop over-all policy to serve the masses and implement this policy, but prefer to stand on the outside and vainly try to split the Marxist-Leninist forces.
Internally we are faced with those people who love to talk about unity in the abstract but who 1) promote disunity in practice and 2) refuse to take any practical steps towards building genuine unity of the Marxist-Leninists.
Today tremendous tasks face us. We still face the problem of establishing Marxism-Leninism Mao Tsetung Thought amongst the working class and fighting masses and repudiating all revisionist and bourgeois ideology. We face the problem of fighting for and establishing the Marxist-Leninist political line amongst the masses. We face the problem of building the genuine Marxist-Leninist party of the proletariat. Our immediate practical tasks are to establish the working class propaganda units in every city throughout the country and especially in the working class, to build the national leadership and centralized organs of the party. We can only accomplish these tasks by initiating and leading actual struggles amongst the masses.
LET ALL THE MARXIST-LENINISTS COME FORWARD TO TAKE UP THE TREMENDOUS TASKS FACING US BY CONTRIBUTING TO THE OBJECTIVE INNER AND OUTER PARTY CLASS STRUGGLE!
LEARN FROM THE REGINA CONFERENCE!
ORGANIZE TO CHANGE THE WORLD!
DEATH TO REVISIONISM!
BUILD THE PARTY AND AROUSE THE MASSES!
ORGANIZE THE CONFERENCE OF NORTH AMERICAN MARXIST-LENINISTS!