► Joint Statement – We Need An Alternative To Socialism-On-A-Leash [WQ2.13.11.01]

We Need An Alternative To Socialism-On-A-Leash

Joint Statement

by Art Franscisco, EJ Jones and Ben Seattle

We are three activists from the Seattle-Everett area, with a spectrum of views on some of the most important questions of our time.  We do not necessarily agree even on such simple questions as  whether or not we would like to see Kshama elected.  But we are all agreed that the Kashama Sawant campaign is being advertized by The Stranger, with support from the local trade union bureaucrats, as if it were something different (and more) than it really is.  And we are all agreed that activists who are serious about creating a better world deserve to know (and need to know) what her campaign represents–which is politics-as-usual (with a twist) as our current ruling class, the bourgeoisie, creates a defensive political barrier against the class struggle they know will intensify as austerity deepens.

Some people ask us what our alternative is if we are not terribly excited about the Kshama campaign.  Our 

alternative is to talk to one another on a regular basis about the principles we believe are most important for the development of the revolutionary movement of the working class and oppressed, with the view that we may learn from one another.

And we are also discussing what we believe will be the central project with potential to unite all the best and most militant elements of the radical left: a common revolutionary news service that will overcome the present isolation of activists from one another and from the working class.

Such a news service will be open to contributions from all activists and will put all people, all organizations, all the most important struggles, and analysis of all the most important news on, so to speak, the same page and the same database.

And such a news service will give activists the right to challenge the rampant reformism, sectarianism, manipulation and ignorance that saturate our movement and which we must overcome.

We invite you to read our separate articles on the Kshama campaign and contribute your thoughtful comments to our individual blogs.  We will make our best effort to reply to all intelligent questions and criticism.

• EJ Jones            Kshama Sawant Campaign is No Way to Victory
• Art Francisco    The Key to Victory
• Ben Seattle        Promote Illusions or Build an Independent Movement?

We meet one or more times per month at the Black Coffee, in Seattle, usually on Sundays.  You are welcome to come by and introduce yourself.  We would like to meet you.

Our six page leaflet (PDF format) with this joint statement and our three individual statements is available here:  https://warforquadranttwo.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/2013-10-20-kshama-sawant.pdf