The Washington socialist. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1914-1915, 1914-12-31
PRINCIPLE OF ECONOMIC
DETERMINISM AND
UNION TACTICS

iSo"V 'h"t coinidue fTanB BoStfOH |
has been expressing himself and
showing the light as to the position of |
the A. II. of l.. to the interests of the
working class.
| have had for some time back
thoughts very much the same or at |
least along the same lines, but am
sorry to say that did not have the |
courage to say 1t In so many words |
oh, the things which we learn to re-
spect we soon have tendency to
worship. We have learned the need
of the working class to organize for
protection. We thought that to raise
our wage was the thing, so we or
ganized our unions and as long as our
masters were unorganized these
unions We're power and benefit 10
US, and, as an education In organiza-
ton they have done us some good.
Now, however the masters have out
to change our plan of attack And
some Of the workers on seeing that n
change was made necessary. tried to
find out what was the matter with
the old plan and came to the conclu-
sion that to organize just the skilled
workers was foolish, for then the un-
skilled worker was the one who was
not organized and he could be used to
compete against the skilled union
skilled and unskilled workers into one
organization, the industrial union.
But again some of us have studied
still deeper. We can see that there
are two men for every job. Now, II
we could get every worker into our
industrial union, the employed would
still have the competition OF the I'M
employed, and down would come our
house OF cards. In other words, the
unemployed would force us to scab or
be scabbed on. We, who look at 1t
this way have therefore arrived at
the conclusion that we should meet
our fellow workers on a class line
without competition, and we find that
the only place where we can do so is
in the political party, composed Of,
for and by, the working class. Here
we find no competition to live, maybe
there will be struggle for power, but
, not between class members A strug-
, gle for control will develop between
the class of exploiters and the ex-
Z plotted as we have seen here in
7 Washington, but since the exploited
are SO vastly in the majority, they
are and always will be, in power, no
, matter how much or how long the
bourgeois cry about brain power or
any other rot. A party's or a unions
brains are only as good as is the
brain of the rank and file on an aver
age. But let us get at the meat of
, this argument. If the working class
: use political action to get shorter
hours, more wages, better conditions,
business agent or a Gompers. This
, is the real answer to the resolution
OF the A. F. of L., which resolution
was most heartily endorsed by many
, |. w. WIS, whom | have talked to
secretaries of locals.) Their COM
mon interest was to keep their jobs
Vnur mi !,
to be business agent, is very much
opposed to an industrial union, but he
is more so against the I. w. w. Why?
Because of his job. Reverse the situa-
ton. The I. W. w. can see little or
no good in craft union because it is
past doing any good But they are
both very much against the political
\ union. Why? Because of their jobs
And we of the working class are such
a bunch of NUTS that we stand hitch
ed for it. We are good at weighing
a mans interest in cause if he hap
pens to be a bourgeois, but let him
be union man or an l. w. w. and
we SteH 10 IHlHk UUdL the law or
economic determinism has been sus-
pended. If the master class had any
doubt as to the great power of politi-
cal action, why would they spend so
much money to defeat us? Why pay
large sums to discredit the members
of our party? Why do the bourgeois
try to take away the power of the
worker in the workers political union,
the Socialist party?
Workers, it is because they are
afraid of that propaganda; to teach
the workers that through political ac-
ton they can and will do away with
wage slavery. Workers, forget the
loss to the individual; let us help our
selves by helping our class. The indi-
vidual is nothing. If he is out of
job, it is unfortunate, but his life or
death is of very little concern to the
mass. So no matter what your paid