Draft Resolution to the YCL: Withdraw support to the Democratic Party

Draft Resolution to the YCL: Withdraw support to the Democratic Party.

Comrades,

History has shown us two very clear pictures of the Democratic Party.

1) The Democrats have long ceased to be a working-class party, and have consistently capitulated to the ruling class. This is seen most recently in the ILWU struggle on the docks and their support of the imperialist war on Iraq. The Democrats that didn't support the war resolution did so because of "tactical" reasons, not because of working-class interests.

2) The masses are drifting swiftly away from the Democratic Party into smaller 3rd parties, to the Republicans (!) or ceasing to vote at all. The working-class are well aware of the betrayals of the Democrats and feel bitter apprehension for supporting a Democratic ballot. As revolutionary Marxists it is vital to take a class position, this means supporting a working-class party, not a bourgeois party. A working-class party can be defined thusly: the class character of the party is not determined by the class that supports the party at the moment but rather by the class that the party supports. The program is the determining factor.

Furthermore, we are seeing trade union support shifting into the third parties. One could clearly see the pressure even from AFL-CIO leader John Sweeney to break from the Democrats, "We're not going to wait for either party." Sweeney stated in a post-election speech. The YCL must base itself on a clear and programmatic basis – no support for the capitalists, no matter how "progressive" they project themselves to be. The only way to truly win "reforms" for the working masses must be on a class-based struggle, through the unions and independently from the capitalists. We must keep away from so-called "independent third parties" that fuse opportunistically with the capitalist ruling class parties.

To "defeat the ultra-right" we must defeat them on a class basis, not by counter posing one section of the ruling class over the other. With a growing right-wing danger this is not the time to capitulate to the capitalists, on the contrary, the struggle must take a clear and definite class position. We must not dupe the workers; peace will not come by voting for the Democrats. Lenin once stated, "The very thing the bourgeoisie wants is that the workers should be diverted from the revolutionary struggle in wartime by means of hypocritical, idle and non-committal phrases about peace; that they should be lulled and soothed by hopes of peace without annexations, a democratic peace, etc., etc."

And once more, "finally, our 'peace program' must explain that the imperialist Powers and the imperialist bourgeoisie cannot grant a democratic peace. Such a peace must be sought and fought for, not in the past, not in a reactionary utopia of a non-imperialist capitalism, nor in a league of equal nations under capitalism, but in the future, in the socialist revolution of the proletariat. Not a single fundamental democratic demand can be achieved to any considerable extent, or any degree of permanency, in the advanced imperialist states, except by revolutionary battles under the banner of socialism." I thank you for your time comrades and hope this resolution leads to further discussion and change. Comradely,

Michael Feldman

November 14th, 2002