The Socialist Party of the United States America

To David Hacker and Any Others Who Care To read This.

When I joined the Socialist Party of the United States of America, for the first time, which I believe was in 1976, the SP of the USA was the group that members of the Peace movement with Socialist tendencies joined. There was a close relationship between the SP of the USA and the War Resisters League. David McReyonlds wrote one of the best short pieces on Democratic Socialism I have ever read for War Resisters League Organizing Manual. At the time I was active in two groups based in Philadelphia, Mobilization for Survival and Movement for a New Society. The latter group had a distinctly anarchist bent. I was aways surprised when an MNS member mentioned his or her membership in the SP of the USA. The SP of the USA thankfully kept alive the pacifist tendencies of the Socialist Party of America and was probably more averse to Communism than DSOC. The SP regularly sold the pamphlets of S,I, parties on its literature table at NAM conventions.

I remember being at a DSOC conference in 1980 when someone asked Michael Harrington about David McReyonlds presidential candidacy and Mike said David was " The best candidate with no hope of winning" Oddly the leadership of the SDUSA respected David while they had no time for his Party. In the late '70 or early "80's the SP of the USA sought membership in the Socialist International. The S.I. discouraged the request according to David. Apparently there were meetings between the leadership of the DSOC, the SDUSA and the SP of the USA about the S.I. membership application. This is what Arch Puddington and Harry Fleishman told me
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It is important to remember that many in DSOC held "a plague a' both your houses" view of the duopoly . It is also worth remembering that DSOC seriously considered running Ron Dellums and Mike Harrington for president and vice president in the 1980 Democratic primaries..DSOC pursued a serious entryist strategy to the DP at the national level. The differences between DSOC and the SP of the USA were not large enough to prevent Pat Lacefield and active member of the SP from being named National Director of DSOC.

Eric Chester was part of the anti-merger, August 7th caucus in the New American Movement. Oddly, so was future co-chair of DSA Barbra Ehrenreich. After the merger Chester helped to form Solidarity ; A Socialist Feminist Network. According to the Hammer and Tongs that was in our convention packet in 1983, Chester was part of negotiations to merge Solidarity...,;Worker's Power; and what was left of the International Socialists with the SP of the USA. When we encountered Chester at that convention he was an observer for the I.S, Most of these people, I believe, drifted into the group currently known as Solidarity or the International Socialists. Chester argued that Frank Zeidler, who opened at least the last three NAM conventions would be unacceptable to the membership of the groups he represented as national chair because Frank was personally pro-life.

Moving forward to 2005, the International Commission wrote a statement for May Day to be published in The Socialist. By majority vote the commission decided to include a mention of the Second International declaring May first International Worker's Day. The Commission also voted to include an expression of solidarity with the parties of the Socialist International. Chester dissented and argued that such a statement involved " working in the Democratic Party" I still don't know what he was on about. He took the matter to the National Committee which decided to name Eric the convener and commissar of political correctness for the International Commission. The NC also altered the definition of Socialism to mean a sudden act. While revolution was not mentioned, that is clearly what they had in mind. The NC ordered the Commission to concentrate on minor parties. In response Melvin Little formed the Fist and Rose Tendency. Yes, we knew at the time the acronym was FART. It was play on the idea of a rose and mired in dung. Melvin Little, David Hacker, Susan Ross, and Gabriel Ross wrote the Fist and Rose Manifesto with substantial help from David McReyonlds. David never was a member of the Tendency and never endorsed the Manifesto but offered comradely assistance, The Manifesto is available at our website.

By this time the SP of the USA was polarized into caucuses. There was the Debs Tendency who like to use the word revolutionary a great deal. They have no other defining characteristics. The Direct Action Tendency was closely tied to the Wobblies and the War Resisters League and supported civil disobedience as a tactic. Most of this Tendency left to join the reformed Students for a Democratic Society. The Grassroots Tendency was composed of members of the Boston and Vermont locals and was very secretive. It was the only Tendency without an open listserv. The Comrades Caucus was mainly the old guard who worked on being comradely while there opponents planned their expulsions. David McReyonlds suddenly was labeled a right winger. This was just nuts. Eventually, nearly all of the Fist and Rose Tendency and younger members of the Comrades caucus drifted out of the Party. The entire North Carolina Party left. We lost about 100 members in Pennsylvania. The National Committee suspended the Party constitution to try to expel me. The only problem being that the Socialist Party of PA predates the SP of the USA and in fact helped to found the SP of the USA. So the NC resolution is just more BS. Now the Oregon SP wishes to expel Michael Marino in part because of his bad hearing and eyesight. And Helen Keller roles in her grave.

The SP of the USA has gone from being the friendliest most diverse group on the Socialist left in America to being a cadre organization of proclamations from the Supreme Soviet. Had the matter of dual membership in the revived Socialist Party of America or revived Social Democrats USA been put to convention vote the motion to expel dual members would have failed as badly as the motion to expel DSA members did two years earlier. The pretense that we are a rival party is laughable. .The SP only runs token candidates and discourages those like Karen Kubby and myself who actually get elected to something. Obviously we could have worked out a political nonaggression pact. The leadership SP of the USA desires insularity and they now have it.

There are nearly no functioning locals and only a few states that have even the pretense of an actual political party. Now Oregon, one of the few that can actually claim a Party organization is in the throes of suicide. Enough sadness for one post.