Project For a Working People's World

Click here for a printable PDF of this flier

Some of us around this blog have come together as part of a struggle to learn lessons from our past activity in the left and workers' movement.  Those of us that started this blog were expelled from Socialist Alternative, (then Labor Militant) in the mid nineties. Both were affiliated to the Committee For a Workers' International. While we recognize the positive aspects of the CWI we have drawn the conclusion that the left has failed to put down roots in the working class and is in fact isolated from the working class.  This failure and the reasons for this have to be faced up to or no progress will be made. It is therefore necessary to ruthlessly scrutinize our history and learn from our past.

We are committed to recognize and learn from our own mistakes. We openly reject sectarianism, opportunism and ultra leftism. An example of this is our name, The Project for a Working People’s World, that more closely connects to the present consciousness of working people. The term “project” reflects that our nucleus is a work in progress and not does not come with ideas set in stone.

We believe the most important task facing us today is to help build a mass working class movement, an alliance of all groups that are confronting austerity and the offensive of the 1%. Such a movement will arise regardless as workers and youth, women and specially oppressed minorities, are forced to struggle against the system and against austerity. At some point, the 12 million workers in the US trade unions will also move in to struggle. This will have a huge affect on the movement as a whole. This potentially powerful force is presently held back by the pro-capitalist pro-austerity policies of its leadership.

It will take tens of millions of workers in the US and hundreds of millions of workers internationally to end capitalism. The 1% will, as they always have, use nationalism, racism, sexism and religious sectarianism and other divide and rule tactics to undermine this movement. We stand for the building of a movement of tens of millions in the US and hundreds of millions internationally to end capitalism. These are the kinds of numbers that will be necessary. If we keep these kinds of numbers in mind this will help us stand against the sectarianism and ultra leftism and unhealthy internal lives of the left groups and all socialist groups. If we keep these kinds of numbers in mind this will help us see that the present approach to the working class, as well as the internal lives of the left groups are utterly incapable of building such forces. Ruthless self- examination and the drawing of lessons and conclusions that can  lead to changes in our way of working are absolutely essential. Unless we start from this position we will not make progress.  

The Project for a Working People’s World is committed to a democratic socialist future. However, we stand for the building of an alliance, or in the old terminology, a united front, to unite on the program in the flier linked to below. We also stand for this alliance, this united front, to use mass direct action tactics. Yes use the electoral system as a way to fight for the consciousness of the working class, but be clear that capitalism will not be ended through electoral action. 

We do not advocate that this alliance, be socialist. There are many movements fighting the offensive of capitalism that are not socialist. We want to bring them together not drive them apart. If we were to advocate that this alliance against the 1%, the united front against the 1%, should be socialist, this would divide the movement before it would ever get off the ground. To advocate that this alliance should be socialist would be ultra left. See the program we advocate in our flyer below.  

However while we do not advocate that the alliance against the 1%,/the united front against the 1%, itself be socialist, we in PWPW do not believe that the problems facing the working class and society can be solved within capitalism. We believe that if capitalism is not ended it will destroy life on Earth as we know it in the decades ahead. Therefore we are dedicated to carrying out the socialist transformation of society. To this end we seek to build a socialist current within the alliance against the 1%, within the united front. We believe in building such a current in an open, honest and non sectarian way. We would hope this socialist current would help convince the mass forces of the Alliance, of the united front, of the need for the international socialist revolution and in this way an international revolutionary socialist movement of tens and hundreds of millions could be built. 

We are orientated to the many new movements and groupings that are moving in to struggle. The movements for climate change, against racism and sexism, against police brutality, against repression, against attacks on living standards, against rising inequality, against the attacks on education, and the many other movements that are springing up.  There are many activists in these movements who are looking for a way to organize, and who will be increasingly searching to draw the lessons of the past. We in the PWPW are doing this. We believe that the left groups and individuals, including ourselves, have failed to put down roots in the working class. We want to honestly look at the reasons for this, and change our ways. All of us have to struggle to look further at our past ways of working. All of us will have to learn to work together with other forces that are committed to ending capitalism. This will involve honest open and principled compromises. We in PWPW are trying to move forward on this path. We invite all those who wish to learn the lessons of the past and work together to build a new movement to contact us. 

If you agree with the general goals laid out here and want to get involved with us please contact us through this blog via the e mail on the right. We are also on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/FactsForWorkingPeople and can be contacted there. The flier also has contact information on it. 

In Northern California contact Richard at: aactivist@igc.org

Or Michael at: michael_benca@eku.edu

In Chicago, Sean at: loughfinn@aol.com or Stephen at sperkins828@yahoo.com