The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1929-07-23

! IdCh, VI ISNOIuIiOldIy dSIlNlIyJ 10
deniable only by the Lovestones.
Lovestone, dealing with radicaliza-
ton, sees only increasing discon-
tent" increasing mood and readi-
ness for struggle on the part of
great Masses" He does not see that
this struggle has actually begun
with the new wave of strikes. In
stead of treating Gastonia as a proof
of the correctness of the conclu-
sions of the Sixth World Congress,
he prefers to turn back to a re-
emphasis on the specific historical
features of American capitalism.
Lovestone does not speak of the
struggles themselves or of the con-
nection between these struggles and
those that are being waged in all
the other countries, nor does he
speak of those struggles in connec-
ton with the analysis given in the
Theses of the Sixth World Congress,
nor in connection with the inner
contradictions which provoke these
struggles. Thus his whole treat
ment of rehabilitation shows not
only an opportunistic underestima-
ton of rehabilitation itself but af-
fords also a still further proof that
he is possessed by the theory of ex-
ceptionalism.
Naturalization.
In his appeal Lovestone seeks to
buttress his theory of exceptional
ism by citing a series of special
features of American imperialism.
No one would deny the existence of
specific historic features of Amer
lean capitalism. The capitalism of
each country has its specific fea-
lures. But what use does Lovestone
make of these features? He cites
them and uses them in order to
deny the application to America of
the line of the Sixth World Con-
gress. He seeks to mislead those
who would listen to him. He gives
in the appeal as the first specific
feature:
"The peculiar composition Of the
American working class-the differ
entiation between foreign-born and
native, between Negro and white,
the fact that in the United States
we have a bigger gap than any
where else between the skilled and
unskilled, the existence of the big
gest and richest labor aristocracy in
the world, ETC."
He follows this up by saying, as
the second feature:
Nowhere in the world has ra-
tionalization been carried so far and
had so devastating an effect on the
workers as in the United States
the deadly effect of the speed-up,
the greatest intensity of exploita-
ton, the quickness with which the
American proletariat gets old"
Here Lovestone mentions ration
alization only in order to show that
he does not understand it. He
solemnly cites "the peculiar COM
position of the American working
class" and then goes on in a COM
pletely unrelated manner to mention
naturalization, without betraying
any comprehension whatever of the
effect that naturalization is having
on the historic peculiar compost
ton of the American working class"
ia bigger gap than anywhere else
between the skilled and unskilled,"
etc. Yet anyone not blinded by the
theory of exceptionalism should be
able to see that naturalization, by
its simplification of the processes
of production, is lessening the gap
between the unskilled and skilled
workers, that it is diminishing the
need for skilled workers, that the
skilled and the unskilled workers
are being pushed down onto one
common level. At the same time,
naturalization creates a handful of
extremely highly skilled function
aries of the capitalist apparatus, a
small corps d'elites of foremen,
technicians, etc., which already is
no longer to be reckoned as labor
but passes over and becomes the
lowest rank of bourgeoisie. This
means the dissolving of the old form
of labor aristocracy. Lovestone, so
far from seeing this dialectical pro-
cess, puts on the binders of excep-
tionalism, squints out with one eye
at the historic peculiar composition
of the American working class" and
the gap between the skilled and
unskilled," squints out at rational
ization with the other eye, and is
unable to get single vision of the
process or to see the specific fea-
lures in their true dialectical focus.
Struggle Against Social Reformism.
In the Theses of the Sixth World
Congress, especially where it deals
with class struggle, social democra-
cy, and fascism, and with the fight
for the feminist line and the unity
of the Comintern, the strongest in
sistence is made on the necessity
for struggle against social demo-
cracy and also, owing to the influ-
ence of social democracy, against
Right 'deviations. How does Love-
stone apply this line of the Sixth
World Congress? He says:
"(7) We are now in the period
of decisive clashes between socialist
reformism and Communism for the
leadership of the majority of the