[p. 98]
The Young Socialist
new address: 144 Second Ave.
New York 3, N.Y.
Dear Comrade Frank,
Enclosed is the current issue of our publication, the Young Socialist. I am sending by separate mail a set of back issues and some other relevant material.
I would appreciate it if we could establish an exchange of publications with you. I will be happy to send you a small bundle of YSs regularly if you need them or if not will simply enter a single exchange sub for you. We would like to receive the 4th International in return. In addition I would like a list of publications of groups affiliated to the Executive Committee so that I can write to them for similar exchanges. I appreciate any help you can give me in this.
The Young Socialist is a new publication, having published its first issue last September. Today it is America's only socialist youth paper. Its supporters come from a rather diverse political background. I myself was formerly on the national committee of the Young Socialist League, the Shachtmanite (more or less) youth movement in this country. I, together with others led a left-wing struggle against Shachtman who was in the process of moving even further to the right by melting into the all-but-defunct Social Democracy. The net result was that we got ourselves expelled. We put forward within the YSL the concept of an orientation toward the Stalinist youth which were and are in flux and that, instead of joining the SP, we work to build an independent youth movement including these kids.
Following our expulsion we set up the YS and formed clubs throughout the country including the left-wing YSLers, SWP youth, ex-LYLers [Labor Youth League] (Stalinist youth) and others. So far our efforts have been successful and we are the largest youth force in the U.S., having effectively penetrated deeply into the CP youth ranks, and have made it extremely difficult for the CP to reinvigorate its former dominance of American radical youth. You can gather from the issues of the YS its political nature. We aim to make it a broad revolutionary-socialist paper and not a strictly Trotskyist paper though a Trotskyist point of view does get through pretty well.
I liked the 4th International very much though I have not had time to read it all. The treatment of Stalinism was quite excellent, especially Germain's speech. However, I do feel the statement, "thus the true and full voice of Trotskyism is no longer heard in the U.S.," is a little absurd. Whatever the differences you may still have with the SWP, at least let us all realize that we are putting forward a Trotskyist, as opposed to a Stalinist, centrist, or Social Democratic point of view.
Also, by the way, I happen to have read your article on "The Third Camp" in a 1951 or so Fourth International and found the section on Shachtman very good. The West Coast members of the left wing of the YSL first went into opposition with Shachtman around the war question. I hear that currently they are even thinking of revising their views on WWII along the same lines. If you are interested you might take a look at the current New International which contains a long diatribe by Shachtman changing his views on the Leninist party, the split in the SP in 1919, etc., etc., ad nauseum. When we were in the YSL we accused Shachtman of being willing to submerge his politics once in the SP. Now however, it's clear he won't have to as he is changing them even before he gets in.
I would be interested in your opinion of the YS, etc.
Fraternally,
Tim Wohlforth
Managing Editor