I went on reddit for some reason recently and got into an argument with a Maoist. I soon revealed I had not done sufficient investigation and was mostly just curious for them to justify their differences in ideology. I repeated a trite talking point that “PPW is not universal” that I have heard many times and listed the vague arguments against its universality which I had heard. I was recommended this book amongst other things.
I read it in its entirety. It’s a theoretical debate for 2019. It opens with a Filipino communist arguing against universality, and that section left me confused. Then a Nordic guy rebuts him and had me thinking Gonzalo may have been right. Another guy comes at him with all the arguments I have heard before, sounding condescending, but rightfully so. I was pretty much convinced but wanted to keep an open mind to why the Maoists liked this. Then a new theory group finishes out with a strong sounding argument for the PCP position.
This question requires further investigation for me to develop an “all sided” perspective, and I can’t vouch for Gonzalo, but I don’t have reason to trust Bad Empanada or any rando on the internet. I must go through more source material when my ADHD compels me.
What I have taken away from the reading is the Protracted People’s War can and should probably be applied in varied situations. It is essentially years of guerrilla warfare against the capitalist state until victory is won over the exploiters. There is no other kind of successful revolution. Our strategy in the west is shit – trying to slowly protest and accumulate support. You cannot win war without practice, and no revolution happens overnight. We will not be ready if a revolutionary situation were to happen tomorrow. The Bolsheviks illegally fought their ruling class for years. European parties were most successful when forced to militarize by fascism, but stupidly disarmed.
PPW does not mean surrounded the cities by the country side. PPW is the universal Marxist element (in the works of Mao), but particularities of every situation must be studied. The IRA fought the British using urban warfare and were relatively successful before right opportunism led to compromise. More advanced theory could help a new BLA or Weathermen be successful in the US. Our ruling class is going and fascist militias are ramping up violence no matter what and we need a more systematic approach than little SRA chapters or whatever.
No, I’m not going to call myself a Maoist or whatever. There are shitty Maoists and Gonzalo did bad stuff, but the same is true of every leftist group. What matters is what works in practice, and legalist accumulationism is not working. We need to maintain ruthless criticism of all that exists and do investigations instead of resorting to dogma. Everyone has a different perspective, and we all need to realize we won’t convince everyone, so we should keep criticizing and refining. We should not seek “leftist unity” for the sake of tailing the least common denominator. We should seek the best methods (using Marxist analysis) and get people to join us in what works. No, I don’t understand all this or have all the answers, but I recommend people check out the essays. Criticize them too, as a matter of fact.
This is not a question of ideology, rather a question of strategy. Protracted People’s War is a tool that revolutionaries can and should employ when the circumstances for it are right. It’s not that it only works in some countries and not others, but that some countries are not yet at the point where this is going to be a successful strategy to employ right now. That time will come when the state and society have sufficiently decayed to the point of imminent civil conflict and when the bourgeois state openly begins to wage war on the people. Which is not a matter of if but merely when.
The key is being able to analyze the present social and material conditions correctly such that you don’t end up committing adventurist mistakes assuming that the revolutionary situation is more advanced than it actually is as that can lead to failure.
Protracted People’s War should also not be conflated with “Maoism” (which is not Mao Zedong Thought) as that comes with a lot of ideological ultra-left baggage. MLs should take what is useful from Maoist theory and practice, and discard what is not.
I agree to an extent, but the Maoists address this exact point. I advise you read it. If we do not practice war we will not be ready when the shit hits the fan. Revolutionary situations are inevitable and obviously we won’t be ready to wage war tomorrow, but we should start ASAP.
PPW is as essential to Marxist “ideology” (ie the flexible doctrine that shows what is ideal for attaining socialism) as a theory of how revolutions work as Democratic Centralism is necessary for the best party structure.
Avoiding revisionist mistakes is all about studying the material conditions to see what is the best course of action in any given moment. MLs and MLMs alike are capable of this, and are also very capable of being dogmatic.
War is not something any organisation can simply practice. At best, you might make training simulations. On the other hand, as you as you actually get involved in a real war, you will suffer casualties and have a high chance of being annihilated (if you launch the war under the wrong conditions).
Read the collection. Yeah, don’t be stupid. Study your conditions. But orgs like PSL will NOT be ready when war breaks out if they don’t have disciplined underground cadres with skills with guns and guerrilla warfare. Don’t be an anarchist just assassinating random politicians. If you study local particularities you’ll probably find that destroying arms manufacturing for example is a good thing you can start doing sooner than later. Read Mao, don’t just decide you want to do violence.
Sabotaging arms manufacturing is a great thing, but it is not practice for geurella warfare.
It’s practice in secrecy and illegal work. I know it’s not guerrilla warfare, but “ML” parties seem to just do silly legal things. Prepare for revolution. Read the book.
You’re completely right. And i fully agree that we should make every effort we can to be prepared for the inevitable, which is why we absolutely should be studying and learning from the struggle of the resistance forces in and around Palestine, because once things get serious our state will eventually employ the same methods against revolutionaries as the Zionists are using against the resistance.