This article is part of the discussion leading up to the Communist Party USA’s 29th National Convention May 21-23, 2010. CPUSA.org takes no responsibility for the opinions expressed in this article or other articles in the pre-convention discussion. All contributions must meet the guidelines for discussion. To read other contributions to this discussion, visit the site of the Pre-Convention Discussion period.

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Twenty-six years ago, I became a member of the Communist Party after five years of either support or active participation in the movement, including the Young Workers Liberation League (YWLL) and Young Communist League, USA (YCL).

As I read some of the contributions to the pre-convention discussion, I am compelled to recall that period in my life; the excitement of being part of an international movement for socialism, for the liberation of humankind from oppression and repression at the hands of capital existed side by side with the impetuousness, the brashness, the foolhardy arrogance of youth.

The remnants of the “New Left” and the so-called “New communist movement” (lower case “c” by their request) were still a presence on campus. Within four years, they would be gone and the concourse that was once the focus of debates about Marx, Trotsky and Mao became the domain of youthful supporters of Ronald Reagan.

But the YWLL and, later, YCL would be there still – as would the Communist Party. Indeed, within a few years a leading YCL member would become student government co-president.

But that would be several years after I left. My time was spent being ridiculed by Maoists who ridiculed me for my “revisionism,” my failure to openly advocate the “dictatorship of the proletariat,” or to make statements concerning “class struggle under socialism.” The Trotskyists would simply attack me as a “Stalinist,” an epithet with which, I am certain, the Maoists would disagree.

An academic setting is, of course, well suited to these types of debates and discussions. I often wonder how many of my fellow students, the Maoists and Trotskyists of the class of 1977-78 are involved in today’s progressive movements. It would not surprise me if the percentage were miniscule.

Those memories resonate with me today as we approach the Party’s National Convention. The deliberations of the comrades who are privileged to serve as delegates will have the opportunity to make decisions that will impact the policies and the direction of the organization. It is to these delegates that this article is directed.

While I have a comradely respect for the various points of view that have emerged in the discussion, I find some of the tones to be disturbing, particularly the statements that can concisely be described as anti-leadership. If you believe these statements, the present leadership of our Party is engaged in all sorts of perfidy, including the rejection of Marxism-Leninism and the use of anti-democratic methods, the latter in connection with the decision to discontinue publishing our paper as a print product in favor of a daily, Internet-based news source.

Because I have addressed the issue of Marxist terminology, including Marxism-Leninism, in an earlier discussion piece I will not revisit it here. But since that article there have been other claims or innuendo that deserves to be addressed.

I refer specifically to claims that Party membership is down from 2,500 to 1,000 and that the forthcoming convention may change the name of our Party.

I have no basis whatsoever to agree or disagree that Party membership is somewhere around 1,000. I do remember our National Chairperson, Comrade Sam Webb, mentioning the 2,500 number. And I can remember how I felt about that number:

It’s too low. Our Party needs more members!

That sums my feelings up. Whether we are talking 2,500 or 1,000, it’s a shameful figure that no member in our Party should feel good about. I remember hearing the late Gus Hall say that there were 10,000 or 15,000 members, and even that number is not anything to be thrilled about in a population of 300+ million people.

The fact is that Communist Party membership in the US has never been as large as it could have been or should have been. But it is disingenuous at best to claim any decline in numbers, assuming the membership figures are true, is the fault of our current leadership. There are influences and forces, including political culture, that have impacted the organized left in the US.

But to blame our present leadership for any alleged reduction in membership is more than disingenuous. It is anti-Marxist; an ad hominem attack rather than the stringent analysis that is present in Marxist methodology.

As far as the assertion that the decision was made to replace the print runs of the People’s Weekly World (now People’s World) in an anti-democratic manner and in contravention of the means prescribed in our Party’s constitution, such assertions are either ill informed or patently false.

Here in Florida, our leadership heard of the possible change to the transition of the paper from print to Internet via a comrade from our district who serves on the National Committee. This was discussed in the District Board, and it was discussed at the club level, as well. We discussed the “pros and cons” well before anything was actually done.

Do not be fooled. The reality is that our present leadership has been consistently and demonstrably both democratic and empowering of the clubs and districts. There is a vibrancy and vitality in our discussions and actions at all levels that is a qualitative and quantitative advance over the experiences I recall in my early years in the Party.

You know, there was a time when our Party had no paper at all. The Daily Worker stopped, and then became The Worker. That’s why the Daily World was such a great advance when it first appeared (in 1968, I think). And the name of our Party was not always the name of our Party. There are quite a few Communist parties throughout the world that do not use the word “Communist” in their names.

There’s nothing wrong with discussing and debating issues of ideology, theory, strategy, tactics or anything else for that matter. The millions of people in our country who are not members or supporters of our Party will not be hanging on the edge of their seats for these debates.

What distinguishes the Communist Party from other organizations on the left in the US is the demonstrated ability our organization has to make a difference. And among the reasons we’ve been able to compile that record is that we’ve resisted the occasional impulse to reduce ourselves to a sect. We’ve been attuned to where the real working class is in the United States and put ourselves in the mix of progressive movements. And at the core of this effectiveness is our unity….a unity that is present at all levels of our Party….including our leadership.

Enjoy your time at the National Convention.

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