Letter: The Obstacle of Ignorance (1969)

Letter to the Editors from the June 1969 issue of the Socialist Standard

  A friend of the Party in Paris has sent us the following letter outlining part of the. case for Socialism:

What stands in the way of the advent of Socialism?

Certainly, it is the power of the State. So let us not be afraid to bring out in significance of the State. Let us advise the reading of The Origin of Private Property, the Family, and the State. Let us not hesitate to distribute this pamphlet among the workers.

It is also the ignorance of the majority of the exploited as to what Socialism, and even what capitalism, is. We must understand the cause of this ignorance and remedy it.

We must repeat that the economic system of production for profit is capitalism; that this system is inconceivable without the exploitation of man by man, without competition between individuals and between groups, without the robbery of; human labour by rich parasites. We must also admit that capitalism will continue to reign over the planet until it has been replaced by a more evolved, more human, economic system. The future system which Marx and Engels interchangeably called ‘socialism' and ’communism’ cannot be imposed by a group with any chance of success. It is essential that first it is wanted by the workers of the entire world and thus universally understood. This system in which there will be production to satisfy human needs is called Socialism.

There is no need for a conscious minority to lead the working class. That’s what we have already in Paris, in London, in Prague; in Moscow, in Peking, in Havana. That’s what we have already in Algiers, in Tel Aviv, in Washington, in Dakar, and at the Cape. The present-day ruling minority itself joined with the people at a given moment. Then it took advantage of being an 'élite' to impose its authority on the people. Revolution by an élite inevitably leads to government by an élite.

The change from private capitalism to state capitalism does not free the working class. Those who produce continue not to own the means of production. Property changes hands and the exploited remain exploited. To put an end to private property is to end the very existence of the State, whether it is capitalist or alleged communist. It is to organise society to provide for the satisfaction of the needs of mankind. It is to establish Socialism.

Georges Valentino

Obituary: Georges Valentino (1996)

Obituary from the May 1996 issue of the Socialist Standard

We regret to report the death in Paris of Georges Valentino, one of our long-time supporters in France. He was born in Guadeloupe in the French West Indies which his father for a time represented in the French National Assembly (for the reformist SFlO and then for the Gaullists). He used to recount how he and others in his unit, sent as conscripts to fight in Algeria, used to fire on their officers’ command posts rather than at "the enemy", with whom they recognised they had no quarrel (a practice later also employed by some GIs in Vietnam).

Georges came across us in the 1960s and immediately realised that this was the political group he had been looking for. He had previously been a member of the French Communist Party and then of the short-lived Parti Socialiste Autonome. He was a regular contributor to Socialisme Mondial, the French-language journal brought out by comrades in Canada and France between 1973 and 1988, and contributed the occasional article to the Socialist Standard. He also helped with the translation of our declaration of principles into correct political French.

He earned a precarious living selling newspapers and working in bars and cafes. It was no doubt, unfortunately, this precarious existence which led to his premature death before the age of 60.

Adam Buick