Socialist theory needs to take into account various factors . . Whether what has passed for Marxism, including some issues of how the MLP interpreted Marxism, were simply rigid interpretations, or whether what we need is new insight, is a question . I think the paradigm will be new . It will take in and account for the monumental work of Marx, Engels, and Lenin but it will develop from there in new ways . I think it will be a new way of looking at many things .
Socialism needs to stand with the poorest and most downtrodden in their struggles .
It has to foster the shoots of independent political movement . This is itself a source of a lot of confusion and crisis among activists . . We have to continue to realize that socialism is a direct product of class antagonisms . We should study how the complex interaction of national, racial, ethnic, gender and other issues interplay with class contradictions in building a revolutionary movement . Many of the trends that say they adhere to Marxism and socialism have not dealt well with this interplay and have either tended to reduce everything to class or to overlook class issues . .