Hallo, Genossinnen und Genossen!
I've been reading Rosa Luxemburg, and
thought I'd prepare a bit of a piece discussing her points.
Let's start with her critique of
Lenin- Luxemburg values the spontaneity of the oppressed,
saying that the existence of an oppressive structure inspires all needed
leadership, and that a mass movement- the only kind she feels can
succeed- cannot depend on centralized leadership, especially that of
petty-bourgeois-born failures like me, which is sort of the model Lenin
advocates.
In some ways we can see that her
method may work- the 1918 revolution in Germany seems to have been
pretty spontaneous, for all the groundwork she and Liebknecht laid or
it- can anyone recommend a good comprehensive work on it? It's also
worth noting that the only party leadership she had experience with,
that of the German Social Democrats, was, shall we say, past its
prime. Luxemburg's own party betrayed her and their principles both
in endorsing the launch of World War I and in their refusal to
participate in the 1918 revolution, which was spontaneously launched
by revolutionary sailors and workers. Had the country's largest
political party used their emergency powers granted by the military
government before its abdication to establish a government of unions
and soviets, history would look very different. Come to think of it,
Luxemburg herself would have survived the revolution had the SPD done
their duty. Though I wonder if she was cognizant of the irony that
their (stated) reason for abstaining- the need to build democracy
before Socialism, as if such a thing can really be done- was also her
main critique of Lenin's agenda 13 years before!
Her admonition to adhere to Marxist
principles and not try to bring about socialism before the full
development of European class relations seems somewhat flawed- not
least because of the example of the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, which
would never have been countenanced from the strict reading she
advocates.
The reason of hers for opposing a
vanguard party that strikes me as the most compelling is her
contention that such a party is incapable of planning for change in
circumstances, though useful in maximizing use and stability of the
current situation- she hypothetically ponders a Germany where
suffrage is rescinded, as effectively happened once the Nazi
government passed its enabling acts, and the prescience is chilling.
Both the SPD and the Communists- which grew out of the Spartacist
Movement she helped to found – were purged by the Nazi government
with tens of thousands of their members murdered, and were clearly
poorly prepared to face down total repression. So the question is:
could they have done differently? The SPD probably could have, while
the KPD was nearly totally repressed by the Weimar authorities
anyway- the Rot Front militia was pretty much wiped out by the 1932
presidential campaign from what I've read. So, does anyone have
ideas? How could the SPD have saved the German Workers from Nazism
after Luxemburg's death? If they were guilty of no more than a
failure to unite, then Luxemburg's hairsplitting is indeed
counterproductive.
None of this is to excuse the conduct
of the SPD during the war, or to belittle Genossin Luxemburg's
antiwar activism. She remains a true heroine of our movement for
defying militarism and fascism with her very life, and for her
concern for human rights. I'm just not entirely sold on her theories
yet. It's also telling that these were the writings of hers I was able to find in the public library of an American city- the focus on her in the west would naturally be preoccupied with her criticism of the Soviet Union, to further marginalize that alternative to capitalism, so I intend to look for other writings of hers and let you know what I find!
Solidarität, Genossinnen und Genossen
Next up- Herman Daly!
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