Those Who Fish in Troubled Waters (1945)

From the February 1945 issue of the Socialist Standard

In 1847 Marx and Engels threw the Communist Manifesto at the feet of the capitalist world.

In less than one hundred years the Socialist movement has made its voice heard and its presence felt in every country on the planet.

The manifesto commenced with the statement, “A spectre is haunting Europe”; to-day in 1944 we can say without exaggeration that the spectre is haunting the ruling class, not only of Europe, but of every land, and awakening everywhere to conscious activity the oppressed and suffering proletariat. Socialism to the capitalist class is the phantom that beckons them to their grave: to their tortured wage slaves. Socialism unfolds the glorious promise of a new and brighter life.

In a modern war the working class are so fixed by moving circumstances they are compelled to fight the enemies of their enemies; there is no escape from this until the wage slaves beeome conscious of their class position, and fully comprehend what is involved in the slogan, “Working men of all countries, unite.”

The war will undoubtedly speed up the economic development of capitalism, but will it assist us in our task of educating those who live by selling their labour-power to an understanding of what they are called upon to do ?

A letter appeared in the Daily Telegraph of December 1st which should be carefully studied by all those who are interested in the answer to the above question. The letter is headed “Wounds of Paris,” and contains among other things the following : —

“But, in France, the worst damage is invisible : it has been done to the soul of the nation. The passionate desire to get rid of the abhorred presence of the enemy has compelled the French to make use of all sorts of deceit and cheating in their relations with the aggressor. In an invaded country such foul play is perfectly legitimate, for the ethics of war widely diverge from those of peace. In war the crime of killing one’s fellowman is not only condoned but rewarded.

These normally pernicious habits, however, gradually permeate a man’s mind until they become ingrained and can, at best, only be eliminated gradually and very slowly. Men and women who, by sheer force of circumstance have grown used to violating daily the laws of human decency in their relations with the enemy are bound to resort to them in their dealings with their compatriots and their Allies. This, of course, applies particularly to the young who have never known anything better and whom it will be extremely difficult to nurse back to sanity.

—Yours, etc.,

F. Boillot, 

Member of the French Provisional Consultative Assembly, Paris.”

Socialism cannot be brought into being by a political party composed of individuals who hold the view that the end justifies the means. A society composed of men and women who consider it legitimate to lie, to cheat, and deceive each other is hardly worth while living in, as we know to our cost. The party to which we belong holds the view that it must be open and honest in all it says and does. It is heartbreaking work sometimes dealing fairly with unscrupulous opponents, but we know it is the only way to the attainment of our goal. We must make men and women into Socialists before we can bring into being a Socialist society. We have our compensation in the knowledge that what we are doing is for the lasting benefit of mankind as a whole. We can at all times reconcile our conscience with our intellect because we desire nothing for ourselves we are not prepared to allow others to obtain.

At the same time we must realise that the moral code of the exploiter is not necessarily in harmony with the interests or well being of his victim.

When we judge any action taken by a group composed of members of the wage slave fraternity we must view it from the standpoint of working class interests. The class struggle is the guide to tactics and to policy. We approve of those acts that aid in the fight against capitalism and condemn those that strengthen the power of labour’s foes. We adhere strictly to legality because, as Engels says. “We thrive on it.” The capitalist is forced from time to time to break his promises, and even the laws he is largely responsible for formulating.

“The mocking devil in his blood,

That bids him make the law he flouts

That bids him flout the law he makes.”

In Greece, France, Italy, Belgium and other countries there is at the time of writing dissatisfaction and disorder : the “liberators” are being attacked by some of those they have “freed” from the Hun—the former being accused by the latter of trying to impose a government upon them they do not want. The situation is approaching chaos.

The “communists” are reported to be very busy in these flare-ups, and there is much speculation as to whose hand they are playing. The Comintern has been dissolved, so they say; Russia is now a member of the Allies. What nation or party, then, is responsible for launching a series of activities that go so far as even to threaten civil war ? The struggle is not precipitated to attempt to establish Socialism but for the enthronement of leaders controlled by those who are pulling the strings. Greece, Egypt, Palestine and Persia are seething with intrigue, but not one of the groups involved is struggling for the common ownership of the means of life and the establishment of a system of production for use; they are all struggling for capitalist ends.

It is very enlightening to study the history of the Paris Commune of 1871. One writer described it as the rehearsal of the social revolution. The capitalist class will act to-day as they did then, should they consider it necessary. The phrase “law and order will be maintained” simply means that, unless the working class obey the decrees of their masters willingly, they will be made to do so. No ruling class anywhere will allow their workers to carry arms if there is the slightest danger of the workers using these in their own interests. Sometimes working men are forced into a position where they are compelled to fight, as in Austria some years ago : these situations develop out of conditions and the ignorance of leaders. We honour those who fall fighting honourably for what they believed to be a workers’ cause, but we deplore the circumstances which brought this about and resulted in the shedding of working-class blood. We do not hesitate, however, to denounce as criminals those individuals who take advantage of a political situation to lead workers to a bloodbath in order that those in whose employment the criminals are may benefit.

The struggle in Greece is not a direct manifestation of the class struggle. The latter is unfolding amid the confusion : out of the fermenting vat the pure spirit is being distilled.

The “communists” are accused of attempting to establish a dictatorship with their own bunch as dictators. Their opponents are trying to restore a state of things similar to that existing in Greece before the war. The proletarian wave may rise to a great height and strike a revolutionary note, but we do not think the working class in Greece will be able to obtain and retain power at the present juncture. It is true, however, that in revolution and in war men learn quickly. We are with the oppressed section, and hope a strong Socialist Party will emerge with sufficient backing to enable well informed class-conscious comrades to guide the course of events. The situation is fraught with peril. If it gets out of hand, it will be “woe to the vanquished.”

When Marx formed the First International he was asked how he and his colleagues were going to bring about ‘the social revolution’ and he replied ‘by moral and intellectual force.’ Bakunin fought Marx for the leadership. The dispute between them was in connection with the State. Bakunin took the stand that the State had to be destroyed. Marx, on the other hand, held to the view that the State had to be captured and used. Bakunin was a Jesuit—that is to say, he believed that the end justifies the means. The communists owe much more to Bakunin than to Marx. The Bolsheviks faithfully followed in the steps of Bakunin, and the tactics they adopted as a consequence enabled them to overthrow the Czar and the remnants of the feudal nobility. But such tactics are reactionary in a country where capitalism is firmly established.

In other words, a minority is unable to impose Socialism upon an unwilling and ignorant majority.

It is true the political freedom we enjoy under capitalism is limited, but it is sufficient to enable the working class to accomplish its purpose by political means in this country. We were told years ago by communists that heavy civil war was the only way of bringing into being the new social order. Here, although there may be disorder from time to time, the transition from capitalism to Socialism is likely to take place without much violence or bloodshed. With understanding, a peaceful solution is possible, and it is our duty to proceed upon peaceful lines. We keep ever before us the fact that the proletariat are enslaved because they do not understand their class position or the nature of capitalism.

Consider the position. The average working man does not even know that he sells his labour; he thinks he gets paid for his labour. If he receives what he calls a fair wage, which is at best but a bare existence, he blesses his boss and is thankful. He has not the slightest idea that he is being exploited.

Shakespeare says : —

“He that being robbed misses not that he is robbed of,

Let him not know it and he’s not robbed at all.”

How can men who ask for nothing more than work and wages abolish the wages system ? All the trade unions in this country now act in such a way as to give the impression that they have a vested interest in maintaining labour power in its present category.

It is an educational problem we have to solve. The capitalist class impose their ideas upon those they exploit; the wage slave looks at life in a similar way to his master. His conception of right and wrong is what his pastors have placed in his mind.

He knows nothing of the real history of mankind; his knowledge of history is confined to what his masters would have him believe. We cannot expect him to support us until he realises he has been hoodwinked. By honourably expounding and standing for our own principles, by conscientiously stating the truth in regard to other political parties and existing conditions, we gradually make headway. Enthusiasm for the cause and the fellowship of those who support it compensate in no small measure for the woes we struggle through. Socialism has an ennobling influence upon those who work for it; its appeal is to the best that is in them both in an intellectual and moral sense. When it leavens the whole working class movement, as it will do, we shall have done our duty ! The workers will be so conscious of their manhood and worth that they will respond to the call of history and carry out the task that is exclusively theirs.

Marx says : “Even when a society has got on the track of the laws governing its social development, it can neither clear by bold leaps nor remove by legal enactments the obstacles that stand in the path, but it can shorten the birth pangs.”

Many things happening in Britain indicate that an ever-increasing number of observant and thinking persons are beginning to see the fundamental cause of our social problems. The result will be a conscious effort in the right, direction. Human society will not perish; like every other organism, it will struggle to maintain its existence. It can only do so by adopting a higher form. We may be at the beginning of a revolutionary period—a revolutionary period is a period in which evolutionary process can be perceived.

We have perhaps built better than we knew. In less than one hundred years Socialism has transformed the outlook of the thinking section of mankind. We can await confidently the consequences of the ideas we have helped to generate and spread.

Capitalism is caught in a cleft stick: those who profit by the system are becoming ever less; those who will benefit by its overthrow are for ever increasing in numbers. When society as a whole knows where it is heading for, it won’t take long to get there.

Charles Lestor