I’ve been thinking about the third period a lot lately, specifically the end of the third period and the dawn of united fronts. Looking at the state of the left in the west, it seems like things have become fragmented to a point that even the best of us are confused about who to support or which orgs to join. What I’ve been thinking is that we ought to form a united front between all the various communist groups in any given country, but in my case specifically America. I don’t think we should work with liberals of any stripe at this moment, but I do think we should be able to let subtle differences between party lines fall by the wayside. This would allow us to spread our ideas a bit more broadly and represent ourselves at protests as a larger communist group. I think the ultimate goal would be something like the SED or the PSUV, but even something as light as an agreement to work together would be a huge step forward organizationally. I’m curious to know what your thoughts on the matter are.
I don’t have time right now to get really detailed, but basically united fronts are good and useful for specific actions. A party joining a coalition with liberals and potentially other “leftists” could be important for more mobilization, broader reach on some items, etc. It’s been incredibly useful in organizing anti-police actions across the US since George Floyd’s murder.
However, being completely dependent on these united fronts dilutes the party message if nothing is done about it, and could lead to further deradicalization. A party should use the fronts to further class consciousness if possible but not rely on them. An issue with CPUSA’s liberalization really coming in strong in the 1950s had part in their obsession with these sort of coalitions, where they were hesitant to do anything that could “challenge the masses.” Very clearly the wrong tactic.