10 The Evolution Of
An Idea
As to the question, `how did the theory of Quantum Materialism
evolve?'
It
long struck me as a basic truism that in a period of generalised economic
collapse (with consequent class homogenisation - at least in expectations), the
working class was winnable to revolutionary program.
The
question that bugged me was why had we always consistently failed to take
power? I arrived at the conclusion that it was due to the chronic and
systematic failure of the revolutionary element to seize control of the agenda,
and (thereby) gain effective control of the movement from the
beginning - enabling it to push for ever more radical demands and seize
power in a continuous process. This failure inevitably led to reaction
and/or revolutionary reform (as the regime recaptures the agenda).
This
question of the neccessity of extreme and early (preferably immediate) mass
radicalisation (capture of the agenda by the revolutionary element of the
movement) was one of the principle motors of my theoretical development.
To
this end I worked (somewhat incompetently - organisationally speaking) as an
independent student activist. I hoped to at an opportune moment (I anticipated
that a sterling crisis triggered by a PSBR/balance of payments crisis would
trigger massive and sudden across the board cuts creating opportunities
for a generalised counter-offensive) launch a radical program at the
beginning of a mass student movement (after the defeat of the miner's
strike, it seemed logical that other sections of the labor movemnt were too
weak to begin such a movement/break out of the control of their union
bureaucracies and that therefore, the students were the best bet as likely
detonators and potential agenda setters of such a movement) with radical
demands aimed at linking up the broadest sections of the working class. E.g.
post- Maxwell this included workers' control of their pension funds and the
extradition of the fascist terrorist Roberto Fiore (wanted in connection with
the Bologna bombing murdering 85 innocent civilians).
The
other motor of thought was the question of legitimacy. The enemy had
time and again committed many atrocities, waged wars of colonial slaughter (eg.
WW1) etc, but we had singularly failed to make an issue of these - as they were
not issues on which conventional labor struggles were waged and conventional
labor movements were built. And yet, when the crunch came, the movement was always
unable to launch an insurrection/seize the offensive (having failed to target
the enemy politically for its' criminality), and no group dared try to take the
initiative and waited... for the enemy to commit some atrocity (to justify an
uprising). And if the enemy sat on their hands until the masses grew
demoralised through sheer inertia, it was impossible to (launch an
insurrection) to take power from these criminals. Then afterwards, the
enemy clobbered the masses with repression as the movement was waning - by
which time it was too late to respond; eg. in 1926 no effort was made to target
the regimes' legitimacy (in a revolutionary political campaign) for its'
profiteering slaughter during WW1, only eight years previous.
So
the question arose, `how could we delegitimise the regime, in order to convince
the masses of the neccessity of its' armed overthrow?'
I
had also arrived at the conclusion that the Russian Revolution was in many
respects unique (as outlined in chapter 5) - that the legitimacy
question which is all-important - differed radically in contempory Britain and
that we must consider other methods to target the regimes' legitimacy,
than be left waiting for the enemy to do something exceptionally stupid.
Long
fascinated with political hunger strikes and the impact of the Pentonville Five
jailings - and very sympathetic to the idea of massacring fascists, the idea
came (just after the Gulf War) like a bullet: illegal armed action
against open fascists combined with hunger strikes by anti-fascist POWs linked
to a wider radical pol/econ (and operationally internationalised)
movement to free the anti-fascist POWs and for wider pol/econ demands.
This
methodology clearly had the potential to set up and execute a continuous
revolutionary process. And if the regime raised the ante over the right of the
fascists to target our democratic rights, ultimately they would be
opting for civil war on political terrain of our choosing. Though I had
not yet arrived at the idea/formulation of an overtly revolutionary
movemnt (my first tentative steps towards this were consequently accompanied by
the solving of the puzzle that was plaguing me, of what demands to put
forward in the context of -a bankrupt economy eg. revolutionary reconstruction first, with
the caveat of armed workers' control and absolutely no
concessions on advocating much higher wages as long as the corporate
robbers remain in control - as all such concessions would be concessions to
speculative greed).
I
knew I had stumbled on something a bit special, but that would require a vast
amount of theoretical development/work.
However
I still regarded myself as a Marxist - loosely associated with the Militant Tendancy - and I felt the
gravest reservations about such a dramatic break with conventional Marxian
methodology - which I feared could lead by distant association, to grave
implications for the organisation.
It
therefore assumed the character of a `nuclear option' to be deployed if
`conventional methods' had clearly failed.
Over
time I developed more and more doubts about conventional Marxism/laborism and
came increasingly to the conclusion that in the context of the ever-growing
power of global finance it was a doomed methodology - and that this new
methodology was the future.
Though
it is also true that (insofar as I still considered myself a Marxist) I was
opposed to Militant's decision to split from the labor party.
While
superficially this may seem odd, I reckoned if classical Marxism had any future
it was working within the big/mass organs. And if it didn't that the new
methodology should be applied in spades. This new organ (Militant Labor) seemed
neither fish nor fowl. (though dragged kicking and screaming into line by a
mass revolutionary-democratic movement - it may indeed play a
useful auxilliary role as a parliamentary/trade-union bloc)
Though
more and more I moved away from and then completely split from Marxism; as I
saw in this new methodology a distinct way of re-interpreting pol/econ history
- including the Russian Revolution.
As
to the question `why havn't others come up with this theory before?'
Those
that are likely to be open to such thinking, are most likely to be
supporters/sympathisers of Militant (by far the most impressive conventional
far-left element). If they have attained any position at all within the
movement, they would have such extreme reservations about anything that would
threaten/undermine the movement, that their minds would be completely
closed to such ideas.
Alternatively,
if (like me) they are organisationally incompetent and have never achieved
anything of note in their lives, within orthodox patterns of struggle, they are
likely to feel so totally insecure about daring to advocate such a theory, that
they would be unlikely to pursue/carry it very far.
I
would therefore submit that to uncover this theory requires a very peculiar
blend of complete (organisational) incompetence combined with a certain
theoretical audacity/ability; and an added factor - the neccessary ripeness of
the geo-pol/econ situation for the development/execution of such an idea (the
final prostration of organised classical laborism before global finance). My
claim to the first of these will be accepted without challenge. My claim to the
latter two will have to be tried by the course of history.
Emblems Of The New Movement
Fig 1 - Pen, Sword & Red Star (principle
emblem of the Revolutionary Democratic Movement). Note the Sword is positioned behind
the pen not in front of it. As the sword serves the movement not the
other way round (which is the case with fascists). With Alpha/Omega - banner of
the RDF - signifying our determination to finish the job.
Fig 2 - Red Morning star against black
background - Battle Flag of the movement. Only to be carried in street
battles against Nazis and the insurrection. Distinctive design to
avoid confusion with other banners. Also the banner of a/the Revolutionary
Salvation Front.
Fig 3 - Regimental Banner of the
Internationalist Brigades & POWs (square shaped). Red Arrows proceeding
from Death's Head (with pen sword & star emblem on forehead of skull) depict the blood
sacrifice of the martyrs halting the march of and ultimately destroying Fascism
(Swastikas over-run by arrows).
Fig 4 - The Red Morning Star (and Star Burst)
against sky blue background. Emblem of Dead Martyrs (signifying a movement strengthened
not weakened by sacrifice). - most prominent feature of military-political
funerals
Fig 5 - Red Stars, White Lightening Flash
against navy blue background. - Flag of the F.S.R.G.B. The four outer stars
represent the principle four nationalities (though England will be split into
5/6 or more regions).
(Note
there can be no Q of OUR reviving the Union Jack which will be ripped to shreds
by the Tory anti EU warlordists in league with Ulster political warlordists,
over the right to commit genocide within `our own' borders)
But,
the design is intended to capture the essence of the best part of British
traditions (eg. of the British masses in WW2 who stopped the monster that
British capitalism eg. ICI-Noble armed) while trashing the murderous colonial
poison and most importantly defining Britain's role in the future. The white
lightening flashes (across the four compass points) symbolise Britain's role in
the struggle against fascism and the global finance mafia - that it recognises
that its survival is wholly dependant on the victory of the pan
commonwealth struggle - in this way it doubles as the flag of the F.S.C.
(Federated Socialist Commonwealth), defining anti fascist Europe against USA
imperialism & for GLOBAL Commonwealth Confederation/ reconstruction.
Fig 6 - Southern Cross against black background
(suggested emblem/ flag for 3rd world liberation movements vis Rise of the South).
Fig 7 - Pound/Dollar/Deutschmark as Swastika -
Emblematic representation of the enemy. Illustrating in the most basic way
whose/what interests fascism serves; and where the enemy is taking us.
Fig 8 - Nuclear symbol as swastika - Emblematic
representation of the enemy. Illustrating in the
most basic way where military plutocracy is leading us.
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sue Branford & Bernardo Kucinski
The
Debt Squads
Noam Chomsky
Deterring
Democracy
Rethinking
Camelot
Gerald James
In
The Public Interest
Seamus Milne
The
Enemy Within
(The
Secret War Against The Miners)
Jim Garrison
On
The Trail Of The Assassins
General Frank Kitson
Low
Intensity Operations
Ernest Mandel
Late
Capitalism
Jeremy Rifkin
The
End Of Work
Alec Nove
An
Economic History Of The USSR
Susumu Yabuki
China's
New Political Economy
Leon Trotsky
The
Revolution Betrayed
History
Of The Russian Revolution
The
Struggle Against Fascism In Germany
My
LIfe
On
France
Karl Marx & Frederick Engels
Manifesto
Of The Communist Party
Karl Marx
The
Civil War In France
Tom Bower
The
Pledge Betrayed
Christopher Simpson
Blowback
Peter Taafe
The
Rise Of Militant
Peter Taafe & Tony Mulhearn
Liverpool:
A City That Dared To Fight
Clare Doyle
France
1968: Month Of Revolution
(Lessons
Of The General Strike)
Paul Frolich
Rosa
Martin Van Creveld
Future
War
Catherine Samary
Yugoslavia
Dismembered
Ward Churchill & Jim Vander Wall
The
COINTELPRO Papers
David Yallop
In
God's Name
(An
Investigation Into The Murder Of Pope John-Paul 1)
Philip Willan
Puppet
Masters
(The
Political Use of Terrorism in Italy)
Middle East Watch
Syria
Unmasked
Donald Goddard & Lester K. Coleman
Trail
Of The Octopus
(Behind
The Lockerbie Disaster)
Brian Crozier
Free
Agent
Stephen Dorril
The
Silent Conspiracy
Larry O'Hara
Turning
Up The Heat
(MI5
After The Cold War)
At War
With The Truth
(The
True Story Of Searchlight Agent Tim Hepple)
Carl Jensen
CENSORED
(The
News That Didn't Make The News - AND WHY)
Gary Murray
Enemies
Of The State
Milan Rai
Tactical
Trident
(The
Rifkind Doctrine And The Third World)
Vladimir Kartsev
!Zhirinovsky!
(Bespredel-
The New Russian Roulette)
Graham Frazer & George Lancelle
Zhirinovsky
(The
Little Black Book)
What Next?
Discuss this book/theory at your
college/workplace/university etc.
Build/ Join the Cyber Army, then (when
hostilities commence with the ripening of geo pol/econ conditions - see S.O.F.
Vol I Chapter 1):
Form chapters of Revolutionary Democrats
committed to the Basic Program (see Chapter 2) open to all parties/organs &
individuals supporting the 8 points of the program - to:
Campaign for the unconditional release of all
anti fascist POWs.
Mobilise support for the Basic Program
(connected to 1)).
Build for a congress of (a) Revolutionary
Democratic Front and Workers' Pension Councils to co-ordinate the movement.
Build/create communications networks via the
Internet etc.
Build a paramilitary force to steward demos and
defend territorial demos etc.
Finally,
due to their close association with Special Branch and MI5 - the author
strongly recommends activists have nothing whatsoever to do with activists from
the anti fascist magazine `Searchlight'