The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-12-02
A Criticism Of the Minority Thesis.
BY ALEXANDER BITTELMAN.


BY ALEXANDER BITTELMAN.
The fact that the minority thesis is
replete with beautiful phrases about
faction" and struggles" and united
front from below" and such like. does
not mean anything SO far as the basic
outlook of the minority is concerned.
Substantially and basicalIy the minor
ity thesis is nothing more than a
grandiloquent call for the propaganda
of pure abstraction.
We shall see later that these abb
stractions do not possess even the vir-
tue of being Communist. What the
minority want us to do is to preach
to the masses the abstract proposition
Of an ideal class-party, not the Work
ers Party but the image of a farmer
labor party We shall also see that
the advocacy of this ideal" farmer
labor party means in effect, irrespec-
tive Of the pious wishes of the minor
ity, killing faith in the Workers Party
and preventing it's growth into mass
Communist Party.
mo Glass Political Action Without a
Farmer-Labor Party"
This is the basic idea of the minor
fly, that class political action is i'm
possible without farmer-labor party
Here is what they say in the thesis;
eff we abandon the united front pol
icy politically by abandoning the slo-
gan For Glass Farmer-Labor Party
we will surrender the most effective
agitational weapon"
Now, mark the meaning of that SEN
tence. 1t says, if we abandon the
farmer-labor party slogan we thereby
abandon the united front on the poll
teal field. This means, according to
the minority, that the only way open
to the Workers Party to arouse the
masses to independent political action
is thru campaign for farmer-la-
Dor party.
This is interesting. It shows a very
peculiar (for Communists) conception
of political action Just consider the
following: Up until now we were all
laboring under the idea that a cam
paign against injunctions is political
action. Now we find that it isn't be-
cause there is no labor party. So says
the minority.
Last year when we attempted, with
quite some success, to arouse the
masses for the protection of the for
eign-born workers, we thought we
were arousing them for Independent
political action. Now we are told that
we were all wrong, because no poll
teal action is possible without the
magic slogan For Glass Farmer
Labor Party"
During the past two years we were
also conducting a wide united front
campaign for the defense of the Mich
igan prisoners. We thought that it
was political action and of the "pur-
est kind such as to satisfy even such
puritan abstractionists as Comrades
Lovestone and Ruthenberg. Now we
find that we were laboring under de-
fusion, because the only way to arouse
the masses to Independent political
action is thru a farmer-labor party!
Another Pearl.
And here is something which is
even more stunning than that. l quote
from point seven %, summary Of mi
nority thesis. 1t reads:
1.-THE slogan of class farmer-labor
party is such a slogan. 1t tends to
develop political consciousness
amongst the masses"
Please, digest the deep reasoning of
the above phrase. 1t says that the
farmer-labor party slogan tends to de-
velop the political consciousness of
the masses. This being so, we are