A Note on Internationalist Praxis
Tags: Dsa, Internationalism, Venezuela

This is a long note to explain my position on the continuing saga of the LSC motion to make a statement on the ongoing leadup to a potential US-led coup in Venezuela. I first want to acknowledge Comrade Konrad’s deep sympathy for the international working class that led them to bring the original motion to make a statement in the first place, and emphasize that this is not a criticism of them or anyone else involved in the development of the motion at hand, despite the harsh words many have expressed toward individual comrades in opposing positions.

I have never visited a Venezuelan co-op. I don’t know how their community councils work. Building the Commune lies on my enormous pile of unreads. I did go to Caracas for 10 days in 1997 on a high-school band trip. That’s the beginning and the end of what I know about the matters before us. I am eminently unqualified. I do not know how to become more qualified, as it seems whatever I read is denounced as reactionary propaganda by one faction or another.

I doubt I’m the only one. I’m not sure how a majority of the voting members of the caucus should be considered informed enough to make such a decision, though I understand the drive to Do Something. It feels awful to be unable to make any change to the present situation, much less a coherent public statement. But I can’t rightly assent to any of the possible positions in front of me without something solid to grasp onto, to prove that the choice I make isn’t worse than no statement at all.

I can’t keep up with all the Venezuela news, all the Syria news, and apparently AMLO is moving troops now? I can’t even keep up with my chapter stuff, my LSC stuff, my work, and my kids’ ballet recitals and baseball games. I need a way to know, and expecting me to read all the news, analyze the trustworthiness of the sources, and make a cogent position based on an expert synthesis of this news is overwhelming and absurd.

Internationalism is by far the most heated area of discussion in LSC, in DSA as a whole, and in the US left overall. It is the mother of all wedges, more than electoral strategy or base-building, or even “what counts as a sandwich”.

And we cannot ignore it. An international left is necessary for a proper left movement. If we in LSC are claiming to be the largest libsoc organization in the US, we sure as fuck ought to be in the best position possible to be building relationships with libsoc organizations around the world. We should be building solidarity before

When we do that, we automatically build a shortcut to much better internationalist lines and praxis. All of a sudden, we can ask leftists affected by these events what they want in solidarity. It’s a mind-blowing thought, that we wouldn’t just launch at each others’ throats, claws out, every time the fucking commander-in-chief gets war-horny, but that we might ask people who are on the business end of the Imperialist War Machine™ what we can do to help. Maybe that’s a statement, maybe it’s not! Maybe it’s a fundraiser. Maybe some caucus members have time and can somehow obtain means to get on a plane. Who knows?

My thoughts for the future of our internationalism are these: Interested caucus members could organize around building an Internationalist Working Group inside the caucus (whether or not they also intend to join DSA National’s as well), and reach out to libsoc orgs and libsoc groupings within socialist parties around the world. When crises requiring international solidarity arise, that group should consult with our correspondents in the affected regions and provide informational resources or draft a position paper to help the rest of us understand what’s going on, or both. If you are an LSCer that thinks this is at all a good idea, feel free to DM me on Twitter or Discord.

My thoughts for the motion at hand are: I will not vote in favor of making any statement on Venezuela until either a) our caucus is in direct and open contact with a Venezuelan leftist organization that we trust, and who is telling us what they would like from us, or b) such a working group approved by the caucus can provide sufficient information from primary sources for us to make a truly informed decision. Anything less is bluster.

Thank you and solidarity.

Ben C