[p. 86]
England
Dear Gerry:
. . . During the short time I have been back in the office, I have been able to give only partial consideration to views about the world movement expressed in your recent letters to Jim and Tom, so I can undertake only a few preliminary comments on the subject at this time.
It does seem that a new crisis may be maturing among the Pabloites as you have observed and that Germain's letter to Trent Hutter manifests some aspects of this crisis within the framework of his attempt to gloss over and confuse basic political questions involved in the split in the world movement. We need to think about this situation, along with other factors, in deciding what we should do next.
Another trend within the world movement requiring serious attention, as you have pointed out, is the deviation from Trotskyist principles manifested in both Argentina and Ceylon; each indicating a specific form of class collaborationism and liquidationism which must be combatted politically.
Pabloite ideas have without doubt contributed to such deviations from correct principles but the full explanation may well require closer analysis of the contradictions arising from the class-struggle lag in the imperialist countries and the steady advance of the colonial revolution. Insofar as this may be the case, there are some favorable developments of a modest nature which should be weighed carefully and used to maximum purpose in dealing with the basic political problems of the world movement.
[p. 87]
Although a mass radicalization of the kind becoming more general in the colonial movement has not occurred within the advanced capitalist countries, there are increasing manifestations of this kind taking place at varying tempos within the vanguard of the working class and to some extent in the mass movement. Your political gains and increased leadership potential within the British labor movement is a cogent example. Another case reasonably comparable in magnitude is that of Japan where a growing Trotskyist cadre has emerged under conditions of deepening class-struggle potential within the country.
In Canada the official union decision to launch a labor party opens some important new prospects for our Trotskyist cadre there and even in the United States, although the signs of coming change are as yet far less perceptible, new political opportunities for our tendency are appearing.
In each of these countries the Trotskyist tendency, including the Japanese as I reported to you in detail last August, has polarized in a decisive way around correct Trotskyist principles as distinguished from Pabloite revisionism and liquidationism. In numerical terms alone it seems that these forces far outweigh the Pabloite group, but even more important is the fact that they represent growing cadres in advanced capitalist countries where for a whole series of historical reasons there is an above average percentage of seasoned cadre members who can play a special role in promoting theoretical clarity throughout the world movement.
If I may use an effort of ours as an example, our work in support of the Cuban revolution from within the fortress of American imperialism helps open the way to win people to Trotskyism within Cuba and lends greater substance to our efforts in the direction of fraternal collaboration with Latin American Trotskyists generally. If the Japanese follow through similarly with respect to the Asian groups, as they agreed to do in the conversations with them, they can acquire similar results. Your own potential along this line has already been illustrated, especially in the case of Africa.
Central to all such efforts of course must be the introduction of theoretical clarity and meaningful political analysis in the world movement. In this connection we are glad to hear that the British comrades are preparing a draft resolution on international perspectives as a contribution in that direction. We shall look forward to receiving copies of your draft when it is completed.
Another meeting at the North should be considered without unnecessary delay so that the problems of the world movement can be discussed in terms of the present situation. The Japanese indicated they would be prepared to participate. It also seems advisable to probe the Latin American situation to see what they might be able to do with respect to such a meeting. In my opinion a bit of time is required for adequate preparation and such an informal conference could not be scheduled before about March. What do you think? Meantime we will be holding a plenum of our National Committee during the middle of January and will have the question of the world movement on the plenum agenda. Between now and then we would like to hear further from you on the subject of the world movement in particular and on other matters in general.
Comradely,
Farrell Dobbs
FD:ra
cc: Jim, Ross
Airmail