Date: 28 Oct 96 08:04:23 EST
Subject: M-TH: violence


I don't think we live in a liberal democratic world. The present "liberal
democratic" governments organize famines and wars (the Gulf, Somalia) , support
civil wars (France in Rwanda...) throw millions on the dole, kill thousands at
work (800 in France in 1995), wruch the third world with debt (Latin America,
Africa...) and, even more serious, are going to do all this more and more, and
more and more quickly.
	So the question is , faced with a system of unbelievable violence, what
sort of workers movement can be built against it and what tactics should they
use. 
	It has been clearly shown in history that terrorism and guerilla warfare
cannot bring about a liberation of society, however well intentioned the people
might be. We need a mass workers movement, democratically organized. We need
socialist revolutionary parties who have no intention of "taking power" while
the majority of workers are not revolutionary, but who intend to give out to
workers in movement the ideas and organization needed for the workers as a whole
to  take power. That is absolutely clear.
	But that doesn't mean we can reject violence... when they send the
soldiers and their machine guns we cannot just give up ( or we will be
massacred, see Chile in 1973 etc). In China in Tian An Men 1979 we saw a good
example... the rebels were right to do everything to convince soldiers not to
attack them. But they also needed more economic power : organizations of workers
and strikes. And also, in the final analysis, arms. 
	Sadly to reject arms in all circumstances is simply to guarantee that the
forces of oppression will win, because no one can ever ever persuade the
imperialist generals of nonviolence.
	Nice to be discussing with you, Ishai

John Mullen
Socialisme International
France

	



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