August 6 2007
The purpose of this note is to acknowledge the huge new political challenge that has been thrown in front of us. We recognize that other players have gone into motion.
Perhaps MIM is the right organization at the right time and place for this big puzzle. Others have shown us the various parts of the puzzle and we are starting to figure out how to contribute our piece to the puzzle.
We have been handed a very explosive card that we always had. Now it is time to see if it can be played. We acknowledge that time is short and it may look like MIM is lagging behind everyone else. We are paying attention.
MIM is thus needing to hurry its activities extending international united front or so we assume.
For our international friends--
In general MIM activities look like triangles, the most common pattern in united front. There is MIM, Washington DC and then the oppressed country such as South Africa. The three form a triangle.
As a vanguard party, MIM does not accept leadership on questions of class inside U.$. borders relevant to overthrowing DC from within. However, when Dennis Brutus comes to the united $tates from southern Africa, we do not count that as a question of his class status in the united $tates if he is working on the question of South Africa. That could still be a triangle, where Brutus does most of the talking and it is our job to defend him from attack by U.$. imperialism.
There is another pattern we have seen where a Swiss persyn working against imperialism eventually traveled to Turkey to help the Turkish people directly. MIM is opposed to that pattern at this time as "tourism." Nonetheless, we can imagine that in that situation, a Swiss persyn might even join a Turkish party to fight imperialism. Then a triangle becomes reduced down to a straight line after travel. It becomes Turkey versus Washington, DC.
In communist history and still in Trotskyist theory today, the COMINTERN can be led by imperialist country comrades. Such is not to be preferred, but it can be necessary for a short period of time. Lenin and Stalin started the COMINTERN that way before dissolving it in favor of triangles. Obviously trusting an imperialist country comrade to do something standing in for someone else is a short-run option taken only because of practical impediments to handling matters another way. We would consider this pattern one of a dot or concentric circle. If the imperialist country comrade happens to live in Washington, DC, then the comrade could be thought of as opposing imperialists also in her neighborhood, hence the dot. Or it could be thought of as concentric circles moving out from Washington, DC as if tremors.
For our U.$-based friends
People continue instinctively to hand us cards appropriate for majority-tactics. These cards are useful in case the MIM cell is "taken out." At that time, disclose all the disgusting and tacky stuff you saw, and the secrets of various ruling classes. That way in the future when a similar cell forms, people will think twice before taking it out. Otherwise, let us all understand that the MIM-oriented minority tactics play their unique role.
We are thankful for the support and criticisms we have received from our U.$.-based friends. We will no longer underestimate our own situation tactically.
Thanks to the particular tasks at this moment, we are receiving support from all sorts of quarters, including some we rarely heard from before. We would like to thank any artists or agitators publicizing MIM's website. At the same time, we urge our U.$. comrades to maintain their distance especially the next few weeks.