We need more than one and more than two political parties

By

How many parties does the US need? Right now we play a game of bad cop good cop. McCain is a right-wing kook with a head filled with marbles and Sarah Palin is a pathetic joke.

Barack Obama is an improvement, but some issues are not on the table. The war in Afghanistan is one of them. Recently, Ralph Nader found more reasons to oppose the two party system, a system that severely limits our choices as to who are leaders are;

“The Tribune

“Nader rails against two-party system at Ames stop”

By: Gavin Aronsen,

Special to The Tribune10/11/2008

Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader visited Ames Friday, railing against America's two-party political system and urging college students to turn off their iPods and develop a social conscience…… "We've let our country be hijacked by political gangsters in Washington who've sold our government to fewer and fewer giant corporations (that) have no allegiance to this country," Nader said……He listed policies he supported that both major party candidates would not, including universal health insurance and amnesty for nonviolent drug offenders, and said voters who supported either without holding them accountable would be ignored."Once you vote for the least worst, you lose your bargaining powers," he said, adding that what people chose to do in the voting booth was their decision alone.”

For the whole article click here. This same argument goes on in the left. Do we fight for a one party state, or take our chances with multi-parties. I don’t think any system can survive long with just one political party. Here again are some

arguments pro and con:

JOINT COORDINATING GROUP of the International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties andOrganizations (ICMLPO)

JOINT COORDINATING GROUP of the International Conference of Marxist-Leninist Parties and Organizations (ICMLPO)

T. Scheller, PO 13 10 58, D -70068 Stuttgart, GermanyFax: ## 49-711- 99 79 571, E - Mail: int.co@t-online. de Website www.icmlpo.deInternational Donation Account:T. Scheller, IBAN DE 45 600 501 01 000 7638 578, Landesbank Baden – Württemberg (LBBW), BLZ 600 501 01October 2008To the Parties and Organizations participating in the ICMLPOTo Communist ProletariansTo all concerned people------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- -----On 20th October we received the following communication:Communist Proletarians does not sign, nor share, the hypocritical and opportunistic statement did by the International Conference of Marxist Leninist Parties and Organizations about Nepal. In this statement they salute the “historical victory at the election in Nepal”, talking about leftist forces guided by the CPN(m).Firstly, this electoral victory is founded on people’s war, and it is a victory of the CPN(m) against the other so called leftist forces within a fight that has been also electoral. Not by chance just the people’s war the CPN(Maoist) guided is nearly removed by the Joint Coordinating Group. On the contrary, it refers to the successes of 19 days people’s uprising in April 2006 (Jaanandolan 2). Within this conference there are many parties who always dissociate themselves or are openly against people’s war. Therefore, they talk about agreements among many marxist-leninist, revolutionary and progressive parties, referring to some forces expressions of comprador bourgeoisie, as UML. This confuses the necessary front for finishing the monarchy with a revolutionary and progressive front.Actually, many Marxist Leninist forces are jumping on the bandwagon in order to erase the necessary demarcation between revisionism and Marxism – Leninism - Maoism, and to become supporters of the electoral way. It is obvious that the Nepali comrades appreciate every declaration of support coming from everywhere and done by every anti-imperialist, democratic and progressive forces, and not only them, within the political fight and the war presently developing in Nepal through political means, but this cannot sow confusion and illusions in the international communist movement.The statement does exactly this.COMMUNIST PROLETARIANSWe thank the COMMUNIST PROLETARIANS (CP) for their criticism. It serves for developing the open and frank debate, within and outside of the International Conference of Marxist Leninist Parties and Organizations (ICMLPO).The criticism states that the declaration does not say that “the electoral victory is founded on people’s war”. The CARC Party, current Main Coordinator of the Joint Coordinating Group (JCG), thinks that this is really a limit, and so it is useful to debate within the ICMLPO about the matter of people’s war, that is important and central for the International Communist Movement (ICM) today.Anyway, we firstly must say that what CP are stating is false. ICMLPO does not dissociate itself from people’s war, nor it is hostile to it. Its position is the following:“Without failing to appreciate the importance of people's war in particular countries, it was also stated that people's war does not constitute a universal law of Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought. Universal is revolutionary violence against the reactionary violence and also to smash the bourgeois state machinery in order to conquer political power. The kind of revolutionary violence which is appropriate depends on the specific conditions of the country and the party.” (Resolution 2, 9th Conference)This statement opposes the amendment moved by the CARC Party, who, on the contrary, was stating that people’s war is a universal strategy, according to what enunciated by the (new) Italian Communist Party that, as far as we know, on the international level is the first who has defined universal and particular characters of such strategy for seizing power . The 9th Conference, as we told, not only rejected the amendment moved by the Italian organizations, but stated the contrary. Anyway, the CARC Party considered important that the matter was dealt with in an international debate. In fact, to state that the protracted revolutionary people’s war is universal is new for the ICM, and it is already important that we begin to speak about it.As far as we know, until a short time ago, only the (n)ICP and the CARC Party were stating that people’s war is a strategy for seizing power with universal and particular laws. Lately CP intervenes about the matter in a communication in English language on the mailing list mailing list MAOIST REVOLUTION: When MLM is applied on the concrete reality of the class struggle it is given new contributions and a further development. The application f the MLM made by the people's war in Peru has indeed given contributions, synthesized by the chairman Gonzalo and his thought, as well as contributions are coming from the people's war in Nepal, led by the "Prachanda path". Today the communist parties have the task to define, uphold and integrate these contributions in the ideological and political weaponry of the MLM theory. At the same time, it is well evident that the application of the MLM on the reality of the imperialist countries, an effort in which we have been engaged with the constitution of the PCm-Italy, will give other contributions to the MLM science. As regards the application on the concrete reality of our country of the contribution coming from the revolution in Peru and Nepal, we apply the method of Lenin, who said "critical application" , distinguishing the universal aspects, gen¬erally applicable, and the particular aspects valid in those countries. This is an important part of our work and of our ideological and political understanding. So, COMMUNIST PROLETARIANS generally agrees with the these exposed by the (n)ICP: Particularly, we are not able to understand which are the particular ways to apply the law we are talking about, because the document as we have received it bluntly finishes when they talk about the phases of the war. So we wait for 1. they to explain which these particular ways are, and 2. to become promoters of the thesis according to which the protracted people’s war has universal value and particular ways to be applied, with resolution, clarity and in all the political ambits they are referred to, in Italy and all around the world. As regards the other matter of the criticism moved by CP, we are sorry that talking about “leftist forces guide by the CPN(m)” creates confusion. As regards me, as representative of the Party coordinating the ICMLPO, I did not mean UML and Nepali Congress as forces that CPN(m) guided, but as forces which CPN(m) was com to terms with. Today, after the fall of the monarchy, I think that they are an obstacle to the advancement of the revolutionary process. Obviously, if there are divergences about the matter within the Conference, also this is a good opportunity for developing the debate. Anyway, contrarily to what CP says, I believe that it is important that this statement of the JCG of the ICMLPO recognizes that CPN(m) has had a guiding role in the advancement of the revolutionary process. This is a step on for the Conference and a unifying point for its participants.As for the rest, CP is wrong opening its document with the accuses of hypocrisy and opportunism. The statement has the simple and clear aim to support a revolutionary process that got important victories, but faces great challenges, and needs support on the international level. The statement is important because is the only one by an international aggregation of anti revisionist parties supporting Nepali revolution, the only one stating the historical value of its victories and, as we say above, exalts the guiding role of Maoists. So, it is an answer to the article published on Red Star n. 13, 18-31 August 2008 . The limits it has are opportunities to advance towards the common goals.. A common goal is the advancement of socialist revolution in the world. Particularly, as regards parties as (n)ICP and CARC Party, and the CP and the Maoist Party they are referred to in Italy, the Maoist parties and organizations in USA and Canada, parties as MLPD in Germany, the goal is the socialist revolution in an imperialist country, matter about which it is necessary to intervene with clarity, science and urgency. Another common goal is to coordinate the communist forces on the international level. In order to advance in getting these goals there need the open and frank debate, criticism and self criticism, and beyond the struggle against revisionism it needs to struggle against dogmatism, sectarianism and economism. The ongoing revolution in Nepal is important because obliges everybody to advance on these way, on national and international level. Everybody has to take a stand, and the stand they take (or not) is meaningful.Lastly, we inform COMMUNIST PROLETARIANS that, beyond this JCG declaration, nearly all and surely the most great parties and organizations of the ICMLPO on the quantitative and qualitative level, support Nepali revolution without reservations and sincerely. No one of them nor the ICMLPO need to jump in any bandwagon.I take the opportunity to inform all concerned people, and firstly the participants in the ICMLPO, that the CARC Party, the (n)ICP and people supposed to be members of it, and me too, are again object of the repression by the bourgeois State, which insists on it will to put us on trial because we are revolutionaries and multiplies the trials against us. Particularly, the General Attorney of Bologna wants to put us on trial with the charge of “wanting to realize Marxism Leninism with illegal methods”. So, also the fact that we are coordinators of a Conference that in an its declaration states that violence is an universal means for sizing power, as we write above, according to our persecutors is a crime. Berlusconi and his instigators, first among them the Vatican, think to solve all the problems of the crisis that is devastating the economy with the magistracy, the police and the army, so as he wants to do today with the impressive popular protests defending state education. In Italy the fact that the States wages war against the people’s masses, and then that a war is already existing, in forms precisely “particular”, becomes clear.We shall inform all concerned people, and firstly the participants in the ICMLPO, about the repression developing against us, in order to call for a greater and deeper International solidarity,Paolo BabiniRepresentative of CARC Party, current main coordinator of JCG of ICMLPO.