The Daily Worker Newspaper, November 29, 1924, Page 8

Parents and Chil HOUSANDS of working class par- ents will be found to agree, in the abstract, that the principle of the junior groups is an excellent one. They will agree, again in the abstract, that working class children should be organized in the spirit of. the strug- gle, trained in the ideas and ideals of ‘the Communist movement, Many . of them will even. wax. quite enthusi- astic lover the thing; they will con- | tribute most generously towards the finances’ of the young Communists, But when it comes to getting them to . urge their own, children.to join the _ red. juniors, they begin to find numer- | ows objections;..when they are asked ! merely.to do.nothing to prevent their children from joining the groups: or attending of their’ own ‘wish,. these. . same. objections will. be. raised; Yes, you will find ‘workers who |. : stoutly. maintain» that theyare good revolutionaries,“ and yet . refuse to have their children enter the ranks of the Communist movement. This type of radical is not confined to any one country, of any section, but can be found everywhere. And his hesita- tion brings up the problem of the new and old relationship between parents and children. It is unfortunate and true that most parents, however progressive minded politically, do not rule their house- holds in the spirit of the new society. They rely on their economic power, the fact that the child is financially dependent upon them, to tyrannize over their children, more over the mind than the body. . Realizing their own very natural human shortcom- ings, their pride is disturbed when the child begins to question . that which exists. And especially the chil- dren whose minds are sharpened by ' a growing conseiousness of self and ' class; when their observation of. s0- cial injustices brings to them at least an inkling of unjustified treatment and consideration at home; when they begin to feel and understand the eco- nomic basis of the family; when they acquire the-critical outlook on ‘so- ciety and the individual and see thru the foibles of those humans who are parents—in short, when they have re- ceived a training in the Communist junior groups—their attitude is cer- tainly not relished by those parents in whose minds the poison of bour- geois life has not yet been eliminat- ed. “These parents see in ‘their Commu- nist’ children ‘only that which shat- ters“their: vanity.. Théy®° are uncon- sciously annoyed, angry at the thot that the “impertinent brat” has the _ audacity to question their authority and superior brains -and knowledge. They cuttingly answer all the child’s arguments and counter their propos- als with the unfair slurs: “When you’ve gone thru what I have, then you'll have the right to say some- thing” or “Listen to that kid talking about politics!” And if the bitter- ness of life under capitalism has bru- talized him inwardly, the child is giv- en one of ‘those old-fashioned: thrash-| ings which only widens thé breach beé- tween the old and the young, which is remembered only with * bitterness: and hatrod by the child.’ ’ J ‘And should’ our” junior be “a’ reat rebelsand €arn ‘the antagonisni ‘of "hfs: | teacher, his father-or ‘mother may be | inclined to. bes peevish when" théy | think: that: their ‘Jimmy has "raised a rumpus in school, while’ Mrs. Browti’s ' little Harry is‘ always’ petted by téach: er, get “A-A‘A aso his marks “on! the report card, and delivered ‘a ‘speech’ on “What Our Flag Stands’ For.”“Instead of being proud and happy to find their boy or girl developing into a protest- ant, a fighter, a rebel, many work- ing Class parents actually apologize for the terrible misdemeanors of their children. ‘The other type of working class par- ent who is opposed to his children joining the junior group is the one who wants to give his child a “good education,” teach him to be an “en- gineer, or a lawyer, or doctor’ or’ something"; perhaps to’ set ‘him up ' in business, and make of him a suc- cessful pants manufacturer or two- by-four banker. These parents have felt the iniquities of capitalism. They know what it is to be Wage slaves, to toil long hours for a meager wage, to attempt. to support a. proletarian family. But instead of seeking to train ~their children in the battle against the vicious system, instead of instilling into the children an un- dying hatred of bourgeois society, and the ideas and principles of revolution, they too often sacrifice all to make a business man out of him. « How well we know the parent who denies him- self. everything, who scrimps and scrapes together. enough money to send. his boy to a university out of which, the, youth. comes,.with a clear memory. of fraternities, college yells, piffle about the “ol’ Alma ... Mater,” and the parting recommendation to some shyster_ lawyer. where whe is to receive his. “practical training. is The - proletarian. parent ‘has a duty. towards his children.“ He must sup- press the tendency that urges ‘him on to exereise the. big stick on his eco- nomically dependent child. To that stain on his revolutionary spirit which brings. the pain of his annoyed van- ity, at the development of the child’s critical faculties, he must say: “Out, By ALEXANDER BITTELMAN, ‘HIS is the fundamental question: How shall we proceed to build in the United States a mass Com- munist party? The basis of the C. EB. C. (majority) says: By building and strengthening the Workers’ Party. To which the minority replies: in order to build a mass Communist party, we the Workers’ Party, must first build a farmer-labor party and thru that party we shall create the mass Communist party. I will deal with the minority thesis | in my next article. Here I want to state very briefly the position of the C. E. C. on how we intend to proceed with the building of the Workers’ Party. When we say that the Workers’ Party is good enuf as a basis and as a starting point for the creation of a mass Communist party, and that it is not our business to create other Political ‘parties for that purpose, we do not mean, of course, that the Workers’ Party will become a mass party overnight and by the mere force of our wishes, No, we are not so simple or naive as that. We realize more fully than the minority that the building of the Workers’ Party into a mass party is a process of hard struggle, involving complicated strat- egy and difficult. maneuvering, and calling for, the most active participa- tion. of our. party-in the. everyday struggles. of the workers, We have nothing in common. with -that. brand of . “Communism” . which avoids . the {masses and. their struggles for fear of losing its “‘purity.” We-are at-one with ‘Lenin..in .everything he ever said. about. ie bacutaas of phenratens sterilityys <9 on | But at the same ps “we: - anit make it as emphatic.aa we can that}; we .still, have faith in the Workers’ Party, that. we -still,, believe.in. its . ability, to develop. and. grow, and be come the,.recognized leader of the American working class. We are not disappointed in the Workers’ Party. — It All each Upon Strategy and — » Taetlesrsene <aerey te What. we maintain: is this; that the. Workers into’ ‘confi success of the Workers’. Party. will depend wholly (objective. conditions| génerally: and ba chet Bg Ay developing our way) upon its's and tactics. -And further, :that.-our ayn acerermalides tom core strategy and tactics ‘must always, be tyothe? mature” séctions of” thew based. upon: the réalities ‘of ‘the: élass: struggle. If you accept this’ principle: then-the first question’to be afiswetéed is: Where are we at? What is No,. en = damned spot!” Between the revolu- tionary child the bond of comrade- ship must be established. The child must be treated as a young, inexperi- enced comrade, who relies upon the adult for support and guidance in his own struggles. The “love” which parents ordinarily bestow upon their children is a relationship based on the child’s meekness, upon ignorance, up- on imposed authority. True love of children depends upon an understand- ing of their problems and battles, in the home and in the class struggle. In the junior groups of the Young Workers’ League, in the Communist children’s groups all over the world, this new bond is being formed. A new relationship i8 springing up.. It is based on a new community life; it is expressed in a wide comprehension,. common struggles, mutual aid and coniradeship. In the groups there is no authority but that of the children wha “have learned self-confidence, clats solidarity, Communist initiative und>r the unobtrusive guidance of thei. friend and comradé: the group leader. Those parents who fear that their guardianship is having its place By Max Shachtman leaders and the children have two courses open to them. They can raise the cry of the pen-prostitutes of capi- talism who shout that the Communists are breaking up the home, and thus play into the hands of their class en- emies; or they can burn out the dross of bourgeois prejudices and ideology, and accept the new relationship. The group leader is the new par- ent, and the new educator. The Com- munist child is the fighter of today and the embodiment of the child of the new society. To the hesitating parents I. can do no better than to quote from one of Edwin Hoernle’s pamphlets: -.“Children naturally. ex- pect and depend upon the support of the adults. The bourgeois education- al system utilizes this inclination: to make the children conform to rules and regulations which insure the comfort and peace of the adults. Com- munist education teaches the child to overcome this inclination and to accustom himself to independence.” Let the working class parents signify their assent by aiding us in our work of building the Communist movement taken by the relation of the group tamong their own children! The Party Discussion HOW SHALL WE BUILD A MASS COMMUNIST. PARTY? hold in order to pull developments our way? The answer to that question is: The elementary needs and struggles of the workers in the shops, factories, mines railroads, arfd. on the farms. It is there that the masses will feel hard- est the inereasing pressure of tri- umphant. capitalist reaction. It is there that revolt is brewing already And if our party, the Workers’ Party, can supply the proper economic, polit ical; and organizational slogans and also determined leadership, we shall have linked ourselves with a growing mass movement which will-carry us to great accomplishments in the neai future, The United Front From Below is the Way. In other words, we propose to be- gin to practice in reality and in earn- est the tactics of the - united front: from below. Just the other day we proposed and adopted in the ©: BE. ©. a thoro plan for united. front, cam- paign to combat child labor-exploita- tion. We also provided, something that has not been done before, for a ‘special sub-committee of the C. BE. C. —a united front sub-committee—to continuously survey the field for the initiation and development of united front action on every question that be- comes a burning issue in the lives of the masses, such as child labor, the Dawes’ plan, nationalization of the mines, ete. The basic principle of all these campaigns will be to arouse the masses to struggle, to direct that struggle into the channels of class po- litical action in alliance’ with and un- der the leadership of the Workers (Communist) recs. ‘Furthermore, we do not ‘propose to wander around aimlessly and without | | united front campaigns. We have earned enongh from the Communist nternational fo know that each unit- ed front campaign must pursue a de; tive for our party. And we consider this immediate objective to be two- fold in nature. One is to combat the LaFollette illusion in the Jabor, moye- ment ‘by bringing <i P. "A. and’ fhe’ LaFoilette ’ with edpitalism:” The: oth ve aa ‘anid’ poor farmers: “th thitts cabal Tasten’ the’ | definite immediate objectives in these. ‘finite, concrete nd immediate objec- the Workers Party on the economic and political fields. Farmer-Labor Party is a Poor Slogan. The slogan, “For a Farmer-Labor Party,” which the minority in their zeal have elevated to the position of a Communist. principle, we say is at present a poor slogan. It is no Com- munist slogan at all, and for that reason we reject it. What is a Communist slogan? It is a tactical means of mobilizing large masses of Workers and poor farmers. for immediate struggles against the capitalists. A Commu- nist slogan must, first, be of such a nature as to appeal to large masses. Second, it must contain enough dyna- mic power to move these masses to struggle and to action against the en- emies of the working class. Third, it must offer a means for rank and file organization into direct organs of struggle. And fourth, it must enable the Workers Party to become part of these struggles and to win leadership over them. ©“ Measured by these four “‘require- ments, we say, the farmer-labor slo- gan, which means a call for the cre- ation of a new party to stand in be- tween the Workers (Communist) Par- ty and the LaFollette third party movement—this slogan is a dead one. It will not appeal at present to a single rank and file worker or poor farmer outside the farmer-laborites in our.own party. This slogan does not possess sufficient dynamic power to move ten Workers ore inch. You will hardly get a gathering of 100 workers in any large center in’ the country to listen to a speech on the necessity of forming a farmer-labor party distinct from the LaFollette slogan. Study the thesis of the C, .B... c. (majority).and you will. find the rea- son—mind .you,. not the. facts, these. You will observe. in your own sur- 4 roundings.. Try, to. talk to. your neigh- bors, in the,shops-and..in the unions,. about - forming, a farmer-labor party, distinct from the LaFollette move- ment, and see how much interest you will arouse. Then talk to these same struggles in :theshops,! wid! a@esreactioni 4 2h “aTKdé, bat ‘The’ thesis’ of thé ©. BC! iierety’ explains’ thébe teeth "-UHd “diate “eke” proper conclusions. Study and discuss events that we must seize upon and] labor isovement soltoatig the lead of | the thesis, 4 eames tnt ie meme grec me eae i i ‘q i ah ay Aenea Ne.