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Left-wing anticommunism is anti-communism from people and organizations at least ostensibly espousing to be left-wing. Since the split of the Communist parties from the socialist Second International to form the Marxist–Leninist Third International, social democrats have been critical of the Communist movement due to its anti-liberal nature.[1]
Examples of left-wing critics of Marxist–Leninist states and parties are Friedrich Ebert, Boris Souveraine, George Orwell, Bayard Rustin, Irving Howe and Max Shachtman.
The American Federation of Labor has always been strongly anti-communist. The more leftist Congress of Industrial Organizations purged its Communists in 1947 and has been staunchly anti-communist ever since.[2][3] In Britain, the Labour Party strenuously resisted Communist efforts to infiltrate its ranks and take control of locals in the 1930s. The Labour Party became anti-communist and Labour Prime Minister Clement Attlee was a staunch supporter of NATO.[4] The Labour Party had resisted communist movements in the colonies during both its 1930 and 1946 governments.
General Views
Left-wing anticommunists are often motivated by revolutionary/socialist idealism and individualism, which motivates them to reject existing socialist experiments and movements which improved peoples' livelihoods and brought a tremendous amount of experience. Several of them can be observed to criticise the Soviet Union as "not socialist" , "siege socialist" or "state capitalist"
American anarchist Murray Bookchin derisively remarked that he does not care about the "poor little children who were fed under communism."[5]
Problems of the revolution are often pinned onto the leadership, which is villified. Political analyst Michael Parenti notes ,
The pure socialists regularly blame the Left itself for every defeat it suffers. Their second-guessing is endless. So we hear that revolutionary struggles fail because their leaders wait too long or act too soon, are too timid or too impulsive, too stubborn or too easily swayed. We hear that revolutionary leaders are compromising or adventuristic, bureaucratic or opportunistic, rigidly organized or insufficiently organized, undemocratic or failing to provide strong leadership. But always the leaders fail because they do not put their trust in the direct actions of the workers, who apparently would withstand and overcome every adversity if only given the kind of leadership available from the left critic's own groupuscule. Unfortunately, the critics seem unable to apply their own leadership genius to producing a successful revolutionary movement in their own country.
Causes
Left-wing anticommunism is often a manifestation of labour aristocracy , a concept brought up by Marx and Engels with reference to the English labour movement , whom attributed it to the industrial world monopoly of England which enabled the bourgeoisie to bribe the upper section of the workers.
This continued to be brought up by Vladimir Lenin with reference to the "Liberal-Labour" movement in England and the later split in the Second International induced by betrayal of the working classes of Europe by leaders of the leaders of their respective social-democratic parties upon the outbreak of the war.[1]
An anticommunist orthodoxy prevailed in countries like the US, where leftists often have to prove their anticommunist credentials to possess any political credibility.
See also
External links
References
- ↑ Rajani P. Dutt, The Two Internationals (1920)
- ↑ Harvey A. Levenstein, Communism, anti-communism, and the CIO (1981).
- ↑ Markku Ruotsila, British and American Anti-communism Before the Cold War (2001).
- ↑ Paul Corthorn and Jonathan Davis (2007). British Labour Party and the Wider World: Domestic Politics, Internationalism and Foreign Policy. I.B.Tauris. p. 105. 9780857711113.
- ↑ Blackshirts and Reds : Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism (1997), Michael Parenti