I went to the PLP retreat February 13-16. The level of the understanding of the youth is very high. They are about to become people who make up PLP, or already are members, who already understand the reform vs. revolution debate — the need to fight directly for communism.

However, I believe that we didn’t talk about anti-racism enough, but maybe that was a product of the event’s integration, or multi-racial unity. There was no racism there to speak of so maybe people forgot that it exists on such a large scale in society.

I gave my club leader $100 for the event, but he gave me back $40, saying that if I don’t need it, give it back to the Party. I am sending $20 to CHALLENGE. I know it’s not enough but it’s what I can give.

Also, I would like to see a CHALLENGE article about the NPA in France, an anti-capitalist party which says they have signed up over 9,000 people ready to move on a moment’s notice to violently overthrow the current French government. What’s up in France? An article I read by Ted Rall says they are moving to the left, even criticizing the “Communist” Party for not being left enough.

Red Worker

CHALLENGE Comment: Once the French Socialist Party blew its “left-wing” cover — resolutely pursuing neo-liberalism, deregulation and privatization, both in power (1997-2002) and out — French bosses needed a new “left-wing” electoral party to keep workers in France tied to the election circus. Of the parties jockeying for the role, the NPA (New Anti-Capitalist Party) wants to become the front-runner. Any NPA talk of revolution is exactly that — talk. In 2003, the Trotskyite LCR, NPA’s forerunner, stopped pretending its goal was establishing workers’ power (the revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat) and has moved more openly to the right ever since. As the NY Times reported (9/12/08) in profiling Olivier Besancenot, one of the NPA leaders, he “guides his comrades towards France’s mainstream,” i.e., to the right.