Advice to Parties All Over the world

What about the International Revolution?

Nothing of a serious character, but an enormous selfconfidence seems to be the motivation for Stefan Engel and his collective of authors. He provides advice, free of charges and unrequested, to governments, parties, peoples etc. all over the world.

Thus he explains to the peoples of Vietnam, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Cuba that “only the masses can create the preconditions for another proletarian revolution in a democratic struggle” (pp. 305-306). They will thank him for this. He teaches the governments of Venezuela and Bolivia that “they are striving for economic independence, but have yet to take the decisive step of overthrowing the state apparatus, with its manifold dependencies on the old exploiting classes and inter- national finance capital, by a revolution and of establishing a new, people’s democratic power which takes the road to socialism.” (p. 304)

But, in order to prevent being nailed down, he stresses that “all countries have their geographic, historical, cultural and oth- er peculiarities which the strategy for the power struggle must take into consideration.” (p. 306)

Concerning North Africa and the Arab countries, Stefan En- gel states: “Since Arab states have at best limited bourgeois de- mocracies, but are often ruled by despotic or fascist regimes, the establishment of an anti-imperialist, new-democratic system is necessary there also.” (p. 311) 

These are cheap phrases, that are fortunately free of charge. It cannot be more than this, because Stefan Engel does not know anything about the concrete condi- tions in these countries and cannot know them either. With his international verbal round trip, he wants to play to the gallery. By doing so he makes a fool of himself.

He merrily goes on. In the Philippines “the geographic conditions are important” (p. 312). With reference to some countries of Africa – which countries they are, Stefan Engel does not say – he recommends: “In such countries, self-run organizations of the masses must first secure the most urgently needed livelihood...” (p. 312)

After all this good advice, he suddenly writes: “It cannot be the task of the Marxists-Leninists in Germany to work out con- crete strategies for particular countries. This must be done by the local revolutionary parties.” (p. 312)

Regarding Tunisia, he publishes an anonymous correspond- ence, which he does not oppose, whose content he seems to con- sider correct and important enough to be included in his book: “Very intense and also very vehement debates are now taking place in the revolutionary committees. There is no dominating party or trend in these committees, but people from the entire range of the left and revolutionaries: from social-democrats, an- archists, Trotskyites to those who call themselves Maoists and Marxist-Leninists. The building of a revolutionary party is just beginning. (Rote Fahne, N° 5, 2011, p. 10)” (p. 314)

That is a brazen claim. The MLPD was invited to the first le- gal Party Conference of the Workers’ Party of Tunisia (POT). The MLPD knows this party. It is a known fact that the POT was a leading force in the overthrow of the Tunisian dictator Ben Ali. The POT is an active part of the People’s Front, which is the fourth strongest force in the Tunisian parliament with 15 repre- sentatives. 

Comrade Hamma Hammami, the spokesperson of the POT for many years and now chair of the People’s Front, came in third in the presidential elections with 8% of the vote. Everybody knows that we in Germany are far from having such strength and anchoring among the working class and people. In the last elec- tions for the Federal Parliament in 2013, the MLPD obtained 0.1% of the second votes (the votes for the party lists, as distinct from the first votes for candidates directly nominated or support- ed by the parties). We do not want to make disparaging remarks about the MLPD’s result. 

Other forces that call themselves Marx- ist-Leninist would hardly achieve a better result at present. But this is no cause for arrogance. Under such circumstances, to state that in Tunisia “the building of a revolutionary party is just beginning” is presumptuous. Frankly speaking, one should be ashamed to gives such advice and make such “assessments.”

Precisely with such an arrogant attitude, Stefan Engel sets the tasks to be fulfilled by Marxist-Leninists in his opinion:

“1. The proletarian revolutionary movement in the centers of the imperialist world system is confronted with the historical task to wage the decisive battles against the principal forces of imperialism. Under the leadership of its revolutionary party and in alliance with the petty-bourgeois intelligentsia and the broad masses, the working class must directly overthrow its own monopoly bourgeoisie by an armed uprising and establish the dictatorship of the proletariat.” (p. 307) When one reads that, one is flabbergasted! No one knew that until now! Many thanks to the great guru; let us kneel down before him! At last he has made this clear to all the stupid Marxists-Leninists. Furthermore, it is so concrete that all existing problems have been solved!

And the guru continues:

“2. The anti-imperialist liberation struggle in the neocolonially dependent and oppressed countries has the goal of overthrowing the government subservient to imperialism and of smashing the neocolonial state machine in order to achieve inde- pendence from imperialism.” (p. 307)

We can already hear all the shouts and cheers from the de- pendent and oppressed countries in the face of such profound wisdom. But we think that this is an expression of Stefan Engel’s arrogant neocolonialist attitude, perhaps believing that all other people are so stupid that they have to go to his school.

“4. In former neocolonial countries which are aspiring to imperialist power, like India, Brazil and South Korea, the inter- national revolution must resolve particular contradictions and therefore has a particular character….

“It is possible that a temporary people’s war of the indige- nous people or the rural peasant masses accompanies the armed uprising in the centers.” (pp. 309-310; in the German edition he says “denkbar,” which has been translated as “possible,” but may also be translated as “thinkable,” “imaginable.”)

Here, too, we must be immensely thankful. Who would have thought that there exist particular contradictions! And very many things are “thinkable”! It is also thinkable that we do not need such talk as it contains nothing but meaningless phrases. How can anyone take it upon himself to favor the whole world with what is “thinkable” in his brain? And there is another piece of Stefan Engel’s wisdom: “If the revolution fails the revolutionary must retreat.” (p. 321)

Stefan Engel poses the task for the Marxist-Leninist parties in the industrial countries to win over the industrial proletariat. That is new! We have all waited for that! Of course, he has more great advice for us:

“1. Propagation of scientific socialism (...)

“2. Agitation and propaganda among the workers and the people’s masses and help in all practical problems of daily life (...)

“3. Promotion of ueberparteilich (2) self-run organizations of the masses for the struggle on behalf of their most important interests...

“4. The preparation and conduct of struggles must be connected with Marxist-Leninist agitation and propaganda. Struggles for economic concerns must be combined with political strikes and demonstrations and converted into a political struggle against the government. In this way such struggles for reforms can be used as a practical school of the class struggle — which is identical with coping with the influences of the petty-bourgeois mode of thinking. In the situation of the transition from the national to the international class struggle, all struggles must be used to promote an internationalist consciousness and to organize international solidarity.

These four fundamental tasks — the dialectical unity of agitation, propaganda and organization, of party and masses, of national struggle and internationalist obligation — must be oriented toward the central strategic task of winning over the decisive majority of the international industrial proletariat, of its class-conscious core, and for this reason must always combine proletarian strategy and tactics with the strategy and tactics in the struggle over the mode of  thinking.” (pp. 332-334; bold in the original)

(2)Ueberparteilich – literally: above-party – means working together in equality, on the basis of 

struggle, for common goals, without re- gard to party affiliation – translator’s note.) (Note in the English edition of Stefan Engel’s book. The common meaning of the German word “ueberparteilich” is: “non-partisan” or “above- party.”)

It is unbelievable that anybody has the audacity to treat Marxist-Leninist parties and organizations like first year students in a village school, and in bold letters to spread this as the great insights of his deep analysis. Without this great guru, who would ever have thought to make propaganda and agitation, to dissemi- nate scientific socialism, to help the masses to organize them- selves, or to promote proletarian internationalism? It is astonishing that anyone is so bold to present himself as a neocolonial guru, to have his book translated into various languages and dis- tributed all over the world.

Thereafter, Stefan Engel warns:

“The systematic concrete analysis of the concrete situation is vital for the Marxist-Leninists in order to adjust to changes in the world in good time, recognize them and correctly evaluate them, and unify their concrete strategy and tactics with the revo- lutionary parties and organizations in the world.” (pp. 511-512)

It would be fine if he would finally provide this. Instead we receive pages of listings of phenomena and again and again non- committal advice, that it could be this way, but it could also be another way. And finally we can create “the dialectical unity of agitation, propaganda and organization, of party and masses, of national struggle and internationalist obligation” (page 334) For us this says nothing.

We do not want to torment the readers with further countless “pieces of advice.” If someone 

needs them they can read the whole book.

All things international?