Recently I watched this YouTube video of a talk delivered by Laura Browder, the granddaughter of the famous Communist Party U.S.A. leader Earl Browder, who, in the 1930's and into the 1940's, helped build and lead the Communist Party USA into one of the most powerful revolutionary working class organizations in this country having tremendous influence over the economic, political and cultural life of this country... some of which was recently depicted in the movie "Trumbo" about the life of screenwriter Dalton Trumbo who was a member of the Communist Party U.S.A.
I think Laura Browder raises some issues, some correctly--- and, in my view, some incorrectly, and other points left hanging without answer/s:
Browder published a collection of writings and speeches in the book, "The People's Front." arguably, the most important book ever published as far as movement building is concerned--- much of which is still very relevant today.
Unfortunately for the working class movement, the two most powerful leaders of the Communist Party who influenced many movements which came together and won the New Deal, fought against fascism, for peace and for a working class based political party, clashed over an "idea" brought forward by Earl Browder... and, in my opinion, this clash over an "idea" was very badly handled by both William Z. Foster and Earl Browder... and others.
I think Laura Browder dwells far too much on the influence of Stalin on the Communist Party U.S.A. since few members of the CPUSA were so weak minded they could be told what to do by Stalin or anyone else--- their views were formed based on what they read and how they related what they read to their real life experiences where they worked and in the communities where they lived.
The only "outside" intervention that really mattered as far as this clash of "ideas" is what the FBI did with its informants to use this clash to disrupt and try to destroy the Communist Party U.S.A.--- which J. Edgar Hoover declared to be the primary business of the FBI.
This "clash of ideas" between William Z. Foster and Earl Browder was based on the "battle of ideas" that has had so much influence over every facet of economics, politics and culture in all of our lives, in our country and all over the world.
This "clash of ideas" between William Z. Foster (Chairman of the CPUSA) and Earl Browder (General Secretary of the CPUSA) was a very important "clash of ideas" but it, this "clash of ideas" should have been used to build the Communist Party USA not to split it and tear it asunder.
Anyone interested can read the views that were clashed over in two books.
One book, "Teheran, Our Path in War and Peace," written first by Earl Browder; followed by "The Twilight of World Capitalism" by William Z. Foster which was a response to Browder's book.
In fact, a very healthy debate had begun to take place all over this country in large cities and small rural communities and in union halls and churches over this "clash of ideas."
I think Laura Browder does a very good job in showing how her grandfather was a good and decent human being and respected by so many people... all true, people loved Browder; he was a tremendous leader.
Browder and Foster together built the Communist Party USA into a large, powerful working class organization which had the capability and capacity to lead the working class in this country to socialism.
When Laura Browder says "there is no happy ending" she is correct; especially when it comes to the struggle of the working class.
In my opinion, Laura Browder would do better to focus on the different views reflected in the two books rather than place so much influence on "orders from Moscow."
American workers were interested in the views from Moscow over this "clash of ideas" but the huge meetings and debates held all over this country to discuss and debate the two views proves that American Communists, especially working class Communists, were trying to sort through "the battle of ideas" that surfaced at the end of World War Two.
My personal opinion is that William Z. Foster correctly analyzed what was unfolding, the ascent of U.S. imperialist domination, at the end of World War Two but I also think Browder had good reason to believe good relations between the United States and the Soviet Union could have developed along peaceful lines through peaceful coexistence and detente.
All the while the debate was taking place, FBI informants hard at work inside the Communist Party (which Laura Browder mentions in the name of Childs... but who was just one of a couple hundred around the country) trying to instigate bitterness and hate between people adhering to the two different views.
The bitterness and hate not only took hold in Communist Clubs but spilled over into the labor unions and many other organizations allied with the Communist Party--- and there were literally hundreds of such organizations which together comprised "the people's front," the most powerful coalition of liberals, progressives and leftists ever built in this country.
We have been robbed of this history largely because the United States government is highly embarrassed by its dirty deeds carried out to destroy the Communist Party U.S.A. and the full exposure would ruin the image of the United States of America being the world's greatest bastion of democracy.
I can understand the hurt that Earl Browder's expulsion caused to him and his family; Laura Browder displays much of this hurt in her talk about her grandfather.
But, you know, lots of us and our relatives, too, have been the victims of these campaigns of hate and bitterness initiated, encouraged and egged on by these FBI scum bag informants and I believe Laura Browder is in a very unique position to open up this real can of worms.
Her gripe is with these dirty goose-stepping fascist bastards of FBI; the FBI who used the most vicious pieces of legislation and all kinds of repressive Congressional "committees" to come after American workers and their families whose only "crime" was to want better lives for themselves, their families, their children, grand children and great grand children.
Our problems do not begin or end with Stalin... our problems begin with this thoroughly rotten capitalist system that is now in its most barbaric and highest stage--- imperialism--- being defended by an entire government apparatus, including the FBI, only beholden to our Wall Street enemy's interests.
At some point the left in this country is going to have to face the reality that we need to rebuild this broad-based people's front if we are going to make any headway at all, let alone get rid of this Wall Street crowd running this country ruining so many lives... and our planet.
The working class in this country has created tremendous wealth now being hoarded by these gluttonous Wall Street pigs and if we are going to free this wealth to be used to solve our many problems and put an end to these murderous and barbaric Wall Street imperialist wars being fought for oil and other resources and to keep labor cheap and profits high we had better find a way to sort through our problems in a way that creates friendships because our Wall Street exploiters will sure as hell do everything in their power to try to turn us on one another until we are our own enemies.
I hope Laura Browder gives some deeper thought to all of this.
Three good books for your summer reading:
"The People's Front" by Earl Browder.
"Teheran, Our Path to War and Peace" by Earl Browder.
"The Twilight of World Capitalism" by William Z. Foster.
Read these books; decide for yourself who was right and who was wrong. Think about if William Z. Foster and Earl Browder handled their differences properly befitting such informed and educated people.
There is no doubt, Earl Browder was the chief architect and undisputed leader of "the people's front."
But, there is also no dispute--- given what has unfolded in this country--- since Earl Browder wrote the book, "Teheran, Our Path to War and Peace" that he seriously misunderstood the totally and wholly barbaric and cannibalistic nature of this imperialist beast which never could have been transformed into anything good no matter how hard Franklin D. Roosevelt and liberals wanted to try.
Laura Browder should keep in mind that it was her grandfather and William Z. Foster and the many rank-and-file working class Communists, many of whom gave their lives while others went to prison and/or lost their jobs for "fighting the good fight" and refused to give up their revolutionary working class Marxist world view, and not her grandfather alone, who won everything good in the way of reforms so many people today take for granted... and are grappling with finding a way to defend these hard won reforms now under attack by Trump who wants to decimate these social programs as the Democrats acquiesce, in order to increase funding for Wall Street's very profitable militarism and wars waged to protect its own greedy selfish interests.
Any thinking person can see that there will never be any kind of "class peace" under capitalism; I think Earl Browder figured that out.
My good friend, Sidney Gluck, who died not long ago and many of you may have known as a lifelong anti-imperialist peace activist and Marxist, was, as he described it, a Communist caught in the middle of the this clash between Browder and Foster like so many others and he told me it just broke his heart to see everything that was built by Foster and Browder working together just torn apart... but he told me he never really understood the reason why so much bitterness arose between people who had been the best of friends and who had been through such difficult struggles together--- he said he never fully understood until he began to go through my "Red Squad File" seeing how dirty these FBI "scumbags," as he called them, were--- and are.
This is my rant for the day; I would be interested in your opinion about all of this.
