Labor Action special May 1950: Principles of Independent Socialism

Principles of Independent Socialism

This We Believe: The ISL program in brief May Day, mid-century - The fight for socialism is the hope of the world! There can be no Fair Deal under the profit system! Socialism: the democratic alternative to capitalism Democracy: an obstacle for capitalism, a necessity for socialism A Decade of Independent Socialism: The IS Story 1940-1950 The future belongs to the youth The Communist Party: Labor's foe White labor cannot be free while black labor is branded! Freedom draws no color line From 1950 to 1957, each May Labor Action, the paper of the "Third Camp" Trotskyists, the Independent...

This We Believe: The ISL program in brief

The Independent Socialist League stands for socialist democracy and against the two systems of exploitation which now divide the world: capitalism and Stalinism. Capitalism cannot be reformed or liberalized, by any Fair Deal or other deal, so as to give the people freedom, abundance, security or peace. It must be abolished and replaced by a new social system, in which the people own and control the basic sectors of the economy, democratically controlling their own economic and political destinies. Stalinism, in Russia and wherever it holds power, is a brutal totalitarianism—a new form of...

May Day, mid-century - The fight for socialism is the hope of the world!

Sixty-four years ago the American labor movement established May First as a day of demonstration and struggle for the eight-hour day. This year the leaders of the American labor movement, AFL, CIO and independent, have joined with the most reactionary and anti-labor employers' organizations, the NAM and the United States Chamber of Commerce, to herd the workers into "Loyalty Day'' parades on April 29. The labor leaders justify this deed on the ground that May Day has been taken over by the Stalinists in the United States for demonstrations organized to further their own political ends. Yet...

There Can Be No Fair Deal under the Profit System!

Brush the dust off the old Democratic Party election handbills and there in fading letters you read of happiness to come, of comfortable homes to rise out of slums, of higher standards of living, of security from cradle to grave, of guaranteed incomes, of blissful peace and opportunity for all. A glorious vista opens before us, if only - if only we will choose liberals or "Fair Dealers" and give them a thumping majority in Congress on Election Day. But something always goes wrong. As the celebrating echoes which greet the election of "liberal" majorities die away, we discover that we have been...

Socialism: the democratic alternative to capitalism

The ideas of socialism are under attack from various sides. The Republican Party's main charge against the Fair Deal is that the Democrats are leading America "down the road to socialism." Austerity in Britain and all the economic difficulties of the British Labor Party government are blamed on "socialism." And finally, the totalitarian slave state in Russia and all its evils are pointed to as the fruits "of socialism." In the face of this concentrated political and ideological attack, the Independent Socialist League proudly states that its chief aim is to spread the ideas of socialism among...

Democracy: an obstacle for capitalism, a necessity for socialism

'Now 'tis the spring, and weeds are shallow-rooted; Suffer them now, and they'll o'ergrow the garden And choke the herbs for want of husbandry' - Henry VI Fear is the hallmark of totalitarianism. It is also the weapon of totalitarianism, even more than its slave camps and executioners, which come in only as the last resort. Fear of being different from the official pattern, fear of standing out from the ruck, fear of being suspected of thinking dangerous thoughts, fear of being suspected of associating with people who are suspected of thinking dangerous thoughts. . . . Such fear is growing...

A Decade of Independent Socialism: The IS Story 1940-1950

The Independent Socialist League (originally formed as the Workers Party) is now celebrating its tenth anniversary, having been formed in April of 1940, following its split with the Socialist Workers Party. At that time, it ww difficult to foretell what future course our movement would take, for it was born in the midst of the Second World War, a circumstance in which the conditions for life and growth of a new political organization did not seem promising. The forecasts made about our future, both by friends and opponents, were not optimistic; few believed we could survive the world war and...

The Future Belongs to the Youth

American youth occupy a singular position at this juncture of history, a position different from that of European youth and from the depression-matured generation of the Thirties. Most of them were depression babies and it is, of course, impossible to measure the unconscious effects that this crisis-filled and insecure era had on them. Their conscious social and political experience, however, crystallized during the Forties, during World War II and its aftermath. Despite this they have for the most part little experience with war and fascism. The lack of roots and tradition makes them by and...

The Communist Party - Labor's Foe

No worker can afford to be uneducated about the meaning of Stalinism. Of the enemies against whom the working class must guard, there is none more insidious and destructive than Stalinism. For it lives inside the working-class movement and nourishes itself on subverting labor's struggle against capitalism in the interests of the Russian slave society which is described elsewhere in this issue. Who are the Stalinists? They call themselves "Communists" and as members or follow travellers, open or concealed, present the line of the Communist Party. Why then do we call them Stalinists? Because...

White Labor Cannot Be Free While Black Labor Is Branded! Freedom Draws No Color Line

The Independent Socialist League is unalterably opposed to all racial, national and religious discrimination. It stands for the full social, political and economic equality of Negroes and all other minority national, racial and religious groups. Jim Crow is still the shame of America; and while anti-Semitism does not play as obvious a role as anti-Negro discrimination, there are numerous signs that it is on the increase. The men of Rankin's stripe are as anti-Jewish as they are anti-Negro and have to be fought wherever their foul ideas arise. Whether it be Negroes who are discriminated against...

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