The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1925-12-19

pointed out have produced an absorp-
ton in one side Of the movement. The
economic" tendency Tin as much as
one can speak here of a "tendency")
has created attempts to elevate this
narrowness into a special theory, at
tempts to use for this purpose the
fashionable "Bernsteiniad," the fash
ionable criticism of Marxism, .
which smuggles in under a new flag
the old bourgeois ideas. These at
tempts alone have created the dan
ger Of weakening the contacts be-
tween the Russian labor movement
and the Russian social-democracy as
the foremost champion of political
freedom. And the most vital problem
of our movement at present consists
in the strengthening of this contact.
The social-democracy is the connec-
ton of the labor movement with so
cialism, and it's problem is not a pas
siVe service to the labor movement at
its every separate stage, but the repre-
sentation of the interests of the en-
tire movement as a whole, the
pointing out to this movement of its
final goal, its political tasks, the guar
dianship of it's political and ideolog-
ical independence. Detached from the
socialdemocracy, the labor move
ment grows shallow and falls neces-
sarily into bourgeois-ism: carrying on
the economic struggle only, the work
ing class loses it's political indepen.
dence, becomes the tail of other par
ties, betrays the great Injunction "the
liberation of the workers must be~the
cause Of the workers themselves" In
all countries there was a period when
the labor movement and socialism
existed separately and followed a sep
arate road-and in all countries such
separation brought about the weak
ness Of socialism and of the labor
movement; in all countries the connec
ton of socialism with the labor move
ment alone created a solid foundation
both for the one and for the other.
But in each country this connection
of socialism with the labor movement
has worked itself out historically, has
worked itself out in a peculiar way
depending upon the conditions of
place and time. In Russia the neces-
sity of the connection of socialism
and the labor movement has been
proclaimed theoretically long ago.
but practically this connection is
being worked out only at the present
time. The process of this working out
is very difficult one and there is
nothing remarkable in its being ac-
companied by various vacillations and
doubts.
What lesson for us, then, flows from
the past?
The history of the whole of Russian
socialism has brought about the fact
that its most vital problem became
the struggle against the autocratic
government, the conquest of political
freedom; our socialist movement has
concentrated, one may say, upon the
struggle against autocracy. On the
other hand, history has shown that
the separation of socialist thought
from the advanced representatives of
the toiling classes is much greater in
Russia than in other countries and
that with such detachment the Rus
sian revolutionary movement is con-
demned to impotence. Out of this
there flows of itself the task which
the Russian social democracy is call
ed upon to fulfill, to instill socialistic
ideas and political consciousness into
the mass Of the proletariat and to
organize the revolutionary party, con-
nected inseparably with the elemental
labor movement. A great deal is al
ready accomplished in this respect by
the Russian social democracy; but a
great deal more still remains to be
done With fha ur0urfh 80 A. x......