Otto's War Room (毛派): Why has it been so hard to create a working Maoist party in the US?

Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Why has it been so hard to create a working Maoist party in the US?

By SJ Otto

For some time now I have noticed how fast Maoist groups come and go here in the US. All around the world there are Maoist parties and groups and some are fairly steady. But here in the US they seem to come and then go.

I for one started to follow the Kasama Project very closely. It was a break away faction from the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP). I have a lot of problems with the RCP. But I have to admit they have kept that party going since the 1970s. They were a part of the “New Communist” movement. That was a movement that included a number of Maoist parties, including the Communist Workers' Party (CWP) and the original pro-China party; The Communist Party (Marxist–Leninist). These and other far left parties, including the two most prominent pro-Albania groups; the Marxist-Leninist Organizing Committee (MLOC) and the Central Organization of US Marxist-Leninists (COUSML) have mostly disappeared.[1] The RCP is about the only Maoist Party left in the US. There is still an RCP in Canada. It has little in common with the American RCP other than they are basic Maoist.

There are steady Maoist parties around the world. Some stay in tact, others do not. Some, such as the Communist (Maoist) Party of Afghanistan can be traced back to the 1970s when several Maoist Parties opposed the pro-Moscow leaders, Babrak Karmal ( ببرک کارمل‎,) from 1979 until 1981 and Mohammad Najibullah Ahmadzai (محمد نجیب‌الله احمدزی‎) From 1987 until1992.

There are groups such as Communist Party of Ecuador (Red Sun) who organized after influence by the Communist Party of Peru [2] and its leader Chairman Gonzalo.

But here in the US such parties have just not been able to take hold. They come and they go. The Kasama Project is now an example. They are now defunct.

Not long ago I was asked about a new group of Maoist called The Red Guards. They formed chapters all across the US in major cities. I never met any of these people and it took a while for me to find out much about them. The closest group to where I live is the Red Guards Kansas City. Before I ever got a chance to meet them they got in an altercation with a local chapter of Democratic Socialist of America (DSA). There were Maoists who opposed and supported their anti-DSA efforts. I don’t know if they are doing anything or if they are even still an organization. But they have not posted anything new since November 3, 2018.

On the other hand Red Guards of Los Angeles have this message posted on their page:

“Important notice

Red Guards Los Angeles, as of today, is no more.”

It is too bad they folded. There were leading a great battle against the Gentrification of various older ethnic neighborhoods in the Los Angeles area. I have heard of other Red Guard chapters closing. It is too bad that just as these groups get going, they seem to fold.

As I’ve noticed it has been real hard for Maoist groups to keep going here in the US. I have kept my blog going from 2005. In the beginning it was just a general leftist blog. It has gradually drifted into Maoism and it has been a Maoist blog for more than 10 years. For more conventional politics, I started The Idiot Factor: Corruption Folly. With those two blogs I can attack capitalism from the outside, supporting Maoism the world over, and I can attack within the capitalist system.

Here in the US, we on the Marxist left seriously need to look at why Maoist parties don’t seem to take. We do have the RCP of the US, but that partyis now in conflict with many of the parties they once held together with the Revolutionary International Movement (RIM). It is ironic that the US RCP and its leader Bob Avakian founded the RIM and it folded when the other parties kicked him out. There are attempts being made to form a new RIM type group. But I haven’t heard anything from them yet.

In the mean time the RCP is the only US Maoist group still in existence. There are plenty of Maoist left—just no party. That is something we need to study further.