FOREWORD, 2004

The following text is the written account of a party general meeting held in 1957.

The negative historical phase which prompted the writing of the Fundamentals is still very much with us today, and the text expresses the hard, tiring work of doctrinarian clarification. As Lenin taught, and as the Left has confirmed, this is a never-ending task for a revolutionary party even in the heat of the armed insurrection. It should be read in a spirit of extreme patience and humility (not typical attributes of the rather impatient and conceited petty bourgeoisie) because it represents a powerful synthesis of crucial, unforgettable proletarian struggles, carried out in a programmatical and theoretical vein. The main point the worker needs to understand is what we unapologetically see as the fundamental Fundamental, which we sum up as follows: «The petty bourgeoisie becomes not only as reactionary as the upper bourgeoisie, but even more so. Any steps taken to establish links with it are tantamount to opportunism, destruction of the revolutionary forces, and solidarity with capitalist preservation. This is valid today for the entire western world», and a further step is made towards the enemy, we could add today, each time the programme and its doctrinal positions are distorted and adulterated.

On this foundation stone, and having demonstrated that the enemies of revolution may be classified respectively as «deniers» (outspoken anticommunists), «falsifiers» (social-democrats, anarchists, etc.) and «modernizers» (present day left‑wingers), the text deploys several arguments to show that the worst of these are to be found amongst the latter two groups, with the third group the worst of all. By referring to the well‑aimed slaps which Marx gave Proudhon, Bakunin, Stirner, etc, over a century ago, the text exposes the positions of the present‑day «falsifiers», and those of the sixties and seventies, decades before they appeared; showing that the «new» elucubrations of these people aren’t that new after all. And since 1957, these plague-ridden «falsifiers», dosed up with the various remedies prescribed by the petty-bourgeois alchemists, have made further inroads by spreading their contagion into various sectors of the proletariat and even into the party. The distinguishing characteristic of every «modernizer» is the alleged discovery of a «revolutionary» side to the petty bourgeoisie. Depending on which type of «modernizing» swindler we’re talking about, this ’side’ might be an ill‑defined «people», or «revolutionary students», or «workers’ autonomy», and so on and so forth. Consequently they envisage pathetic «fronts» and imaginary «revolutionary camps» into which are crammed a motley array of anarchists, leftists, extra-parliamentarians, internationalist communists and anyone else who is around.

Eleven years before, in 1946, the same issue had been confronted in our text Tracciato d’impostazione (Fundamentals for a Marxist Orientation): «The revolutionary communist movement of this violent epoch should be characterized not only by the theoretical demolition of all conformity with, and reformism of, the contemporary world, but also by the practical, tactical position according to which there is no further we can go with any movement, whether conformist or reformist, not even in limited sectors or periods of time».

The battle cry of revolutionary communism, which we need to shout loud and in advance, which we are forced to repeat a thousand times to break the opportunist spell and to combat their divisive influence, is this: «THE PARTY WIELDS THE STATE WEAPON. WITHOUT THE PARTY, INDISPENSABLE ORGAN OF THE WORKING CLASS, THE CLASS HAS NO LIFE, AND NO STRENGTH TO FIGHT». This central tenet of revolutionary communism is dialectically linked to another one; that «if the alternative between world crisis and war on the one hand, and international communist revolution on the other, is simply a question of the revolutionary strength of the class, THE QUESTION OF STRENGTH DEPENDS PRIMARILY ON THE RESTORATION AND DEFENCE OF REVOLUTIONARY THEORY, AND ON A COMMUNIST PARTY WITHOUT FRONTIERS». These are – you scoundrels! – two sides of the same issue, not two «stages»! That is to say, in Lenin’s words, that «without revolutionary theory there is no revolutionary action». But theory is not conquered once and for all, it has to be studied, digested, and crystallized in the militant party, and even then it cannot be taken for granted. Never!

Nothing new under the sun then. Just the ongoing and continuous work of presenting new generations of militants (and in the future, the armed class) with the cornerstones of our theory. And as each day goes by, the petty events of today’s capitalist world only serve to confirm the scientific validity of Marxism, demonstrating its ability to explain the most intimate mechanisms regulating not only the past and present of this inhumane mode of production, but its future as well.

Although written almost half a century ago, the Fundamentals was an excellent response to this traditional need of our movement, and it still it retains both its power and its scientific rigor.
 

FOREWORD (2004)

The following text is the written account of a party general meeting held in 1957.

The negative historical phase which prompted the writing of the Fundamentals is still very much with us today, and the text expresses the hard, tiring work of doctrinarian clarification. As Lenin taught, and as the Left has confirmed, this is a never-ending task for a revolutionary party even in the heat of the armed insurrection. It should be read in a spirit of extreme patience and humility (not typical attributes of the rather impatient and conceited petty bourgeoisie) because it represents a powerful synthesis of crucial, unforgettable proletarian struggles, carried out in a programmatical and theoretical vein. The main point the worker needs to understand is what we unapologetically see as the fundamental Fundamental, which we sum up as follows: «The petty bourgeoisie becomes not only as reactionary as the upper bourgeoisie, but even more so. Any steps taken to establish links with it are tantamount to opportunism, destruction of the revolutionary forces, and solidarity with capitalist preservation. This is valid today for the entire western world», and a further step is made towards the enemy, we could add today, each time the programme and its doctrinal positions are distorted and adulterated.

On this foundation stone, and having demonstrated that the enemies of revolution may be classified respectively as «deniers» (outspoken anticommunists), «falsifiers» (social-democrats, anarchists, etc.) and «modernizers» (present day left‑wingers), the text deploys several arguments to show that the worst of these are to be found amongst the latter two groups, with the third group the worst of all. By referring to the well‑aimed slaps which Marx gave Proudhon, Bakunin, Stirner, etc, over a century ago, the text exposes the positions of the present‑day «falsifiers», and those of the sixties and seventies, decades before they appeared; showing that the «new» elucubrations of these people aren’t that new after all. And since 1957, these plague-ridden «falsifiers», dosed up with the various remedies prescribed by the petty-bourgeois alchemists, have made further inroads by spreading their contagion into various sectors of the proletariat and even into the party. The distinguishing characteristic of every «modernizer» is the alleged discovery of a «revolutionary» side to the petty bourgeoisie. Depending on which type of «modernizing» swindler we’re talking about, this ’side’ might be an ill‑defined «people», or «revolutionary students», or «workers’ autonomy», and so on and so forth. Consequently they envisage pathetic «fronts» and imaginary «revolutionary camps» into which are crammed a motley array of anarchists, leftists, extra-parliamentarians, internationalist communists and anyone else who is around.

Eleven years before, in 1946, the same issue had been confronted in our text Tracciato d’impostazione (Fundamentals for a Marxist Orientation): «The revolutionary communist movement of this violent epoch should be characterized not only by the theoretical demolition of all conformity with, and reformism of, the contemporary world, but also by the practical, tactical position according to which there is no further we can go with any movement, whether conformist or reformist, not even in limited sectors or periods of time».

The battle cry of revolutionary communism, which we need to shout loud and in advance, which we are forced to repeat a thousand times to break the opportunist spell and to combat their divisive influence, is this: «THE PARTY WIELDS THE STATE WEAPON. WITHOUT THE PARTY, INDISPENSABLE ORGAN OF THE WORKING CLASS, THE CLASS HAS NO LIFE, AND NO STRENGTH TO FIGHT». This central tenet of revolutionary communism is dialectically linked to another one; that «if the alternative between world crisis and war on the one hand, and international communist revolution on the other, is simply a question of the revolutionary strength of the class, THE QUESTION OF STRENGTH DEPENDS PRIMARILY ON THE RESTORATION AND DEFENCE OF REVOLUTIONARY THEORY, AND ON A COMMUNIST PARTY WITHOUT FRONTIERS». These are – you scoundrels! – two sides of the same issue, not two «stages»! That is to say, in Lenin’s words, that «without revolutionary theory there is no revolutionary action». But theory is not conquered once and for all, it has to be studied, digested, and crystallized in the militant party, and even then it cannot be taken for granted. Never!

Nothing new under the sun then. Just the ongoing and continuous work of presenting new generations of militants (and in the future, the armed class) with the cornerstones of our theory. And as each day goes by, the petty events of today’s capitalist world only serve to confirm the scientific validity of Marxism, demonstrating its ability to explain the most intimate mechanisms regulating not only the past and present of this inhumane mode of production, but its future as well.

Although written almost half a century ago, the Fundamentals was an excellent response to this traditional need of our movement, and it still it retains both its power and its scientific rigor.