The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-03-16
Thaenann in Grave Danger of Being Murdered By Nazis
S.P. Heads Defend Capitalism
Under the Banner of Marx

( order TO meet the miserable gross
requirements of the moment, In
order to crush the resistance of
the capitalist class, cause the
state to assume revolutionary
and transitional form instead of
laying down their arms and abOl-
ishing the state"
Is this not armed revolt, insur-
reCtion, if you please, Mr.. Panken?
What else does Marx present in this
statement if not that the armed
proletariat. and only the armed
proletarias, can effectively carry
through the decisive battle against
capitalism
1t was precisely against the posi-
ton of the anarchists, whose plat
form If followed would inevitably
mean Surrendering the revolution,
that these words were written. Is
it not Willful distortion to convert
these powerful words Of Marx to
serve the anti-Marxian program Of
the Socialist Party?
Mr.. Panken would, no doubt,
have read the address by Marx to
the Communist League as far back
as 1850 in which he tersely pre-
sented the revolutionary program;
'NOT A MATTER Oh. REFORMING
PRIVATE PROPERTY"
With us it is not a matter OF
reforming private property but of
abolishing it; not of hushing up
class antagonisms, but Of abolishing
the classes: not of ameliorating the
existing society, but of establishing
a new one"
Does this conform with the col
Liberation tactics of the Socialist
Party, as Mr.. Panken would like
the workers to believe? Does this
endorse the program of the Social
list Party as outlined by Mr.. Thomas
during his election campaign: We
call upon Mr.. Thomas to support
the truth of our contention that
the Socialist Party today is the
main social support Of the capitalist
class, In the World Tomorrow of
September 14th, Norman Thomas
stated:
Suppose Socialist should be
elected TO high office in the
United States. He must as a
matter of course swear to support
the constitution end laws of the
United States. He may with great
sincerity seek to change that
Constitution and those laws, but
always by constitutional means.
He is therefore put in the position
where he will have to help to
enforce that which does not in
the least commend itself to him."
The regrets" expressed by Mr..
Thomas on having to swear to
support the Constitution" are but
crocodile tears to deceive the
masses and to hide the real char
acter of the Socialist Party as the
third party of capitalism.
ON BOURGEOIS
DEMOCRACY
The defense of bourgeois demo-
cracy under the cover of Marxisn
is advanced for the purpose of
maintaining the capitalistic dicta-
torship as against the revolution
airy dictatorship of the proletariat.
Mr.. Panken COunterposeS bourgeois
democracy as pure" democracy
against the revolutionary dictator
ship Of the proletariat as the demo-
cracy of a minority-namely. the
Communist Party. Denying the
basic essence of MarXiSm. which
demands Of working class party
the recognition that the class
struggle leads to revolutionary
overthrow Of the capitalist class and
the establishment of the proletarian
dictatorship, Panken tries to con-
fuse the workers by distorting these
fundamental teachings. How clearly
Lenin develops this theory of the
need Of the proletarian state as a
transition to a CLASHES society:
If the eXpiOiterS are defeated
in one country only, and this, of
course, is the rule, since stimuli
taneOus revolution in a number
OF countries is a rare exception
they still remain stronger than
the exploited because the internal
ti0nal connections of the exploit
ers are enormous. o . This truth is
that IN any and every serious re-
VOiution a long, obstinate des-
perEte resistance of the explOiters,
who for many years will vet
enjoy great advantages over the
exploited, constitutes the rule
The transition from capital
ism TO communism forms a whole
historical epoch. Until it is COM
plete, the explOiters will still re-
tain the hope of restoration
and this hope will eventually ex-
press itself in attempts at resto-
ration
-(Proletarian Reyolution)
SILENT ON ROLE
or SOVIET UNION.
The very fact that in the entire
issue OF the New Leader there is no
reference made 10 the Soviet Union
as the realization of the teachings
of Marx and Engels is in itself suf-
ficient condemnation of the anti
working class character of the poll
icy and tactics of the Socialist
Party.
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