The new issue of ‘A Free Retriever’s Digest’ is out (June – July 2018)

Vol. 2 Issue #3, May 31, 2018.

June – July

24 p. (A4, pdf)

Free for download here

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Supplement to AFRD #03 (June – July 2028)

The G.I.C. and the Economy of the Transition Period – Introductory Article

As a supplement to issue #03 of A Free Retriever’s Digest we publish a two-part article that introduces the major political–theoretical work of G.I.C., and attempts to clarify the main misunderstandings that still mark its reception. It is freely available for download here. The following presents its summary.

‘A Free Retriever’ goes online

Since the beginning of this year A Free Retriever’s Digest has completed its try-out period. It continues as a bimonthly digital revue, and is henceforth accompanied by this online blog.

The ‘Free Retriever’ project aims at presenting publications relevant to discussions within the proletarian internationalist milieu in general, and among the groups and circles who claim adherence to the internationalist communist left(s) in particular. ‘A Free Retriever’s Digest’ wants to provide comments, critiques and a space for discussion, both as a bimonthly digital revue and an online blog.

The Comeback of ‘Controverses’: 1818 – 1918 – 1968 – 2018

Special Attention

Breaking more than a year of radio silence on its web-site, and more than six years after its special edition “From October 1917 to the collapse of the USSR”, (1) the Forum for an internationalist communist Left has brought out a new issue of its revue “Controverses” in French language. AFRD intends to follow its comeback and welcomes this revival by adopting the presentation of its contents.

1 Cahier thématique n°1 : Octobre 1917, http://leftcommunism.org/spip.php?article291&lang=fr (French language; some articles have been translated)

Action against War

Anton Pannekoek in ‘New Review’, 1915 (Fragment)

» It is not enough for the workers to oppose war, every war, to refuse to be led astray by the cry of national defense. They must also have the power and the means to prevent war. « (¹)

Two internationalist statements on the American withdrawal from the Iranian ‘nuclear agreement’

Both ‘Nuevo Curso’ (Spain) and the ‘International Group of the Communist Left’ (France, Canada) have reacted swiftly to the news on Tuesday May 8 of the (expected) withdrawal from the 2015 ‘nuclear agreement’ with Iran by the USA, putting out first statements on its significance and implications.

The G.I.C. and the economy of the transition period (1)

Origin and meaning of the ‘Fundamental Principles’

The work Fundamental Principles of Communist Production and Distribution (further: Fundamental Principles) of the Group of International Communists (GIC) is an important text of the communist Left on the economic problems of the transition period from capitalism to communism. The GIC describes the relevance of the Fundamental Principles as follows:

“As soon as the rule of the working class has become a fact in an industrialized country, the proletariat is confronted with the task of carrying through the transformation of economic life on new foundations, those of communal labor. The abolition of private property is easily pronounced, it will be the first measure of the political rule of the working class. But that is only a juridical act which aims at providing the legal foundation for the real economic proceeding. The real transformation and the actual revolutionary work then only begins.”  (¹)

The G.I.C. and the economy of the transition period (2)

Misunderstandings and anti-critique

In the foregoing, reference has been made to the misunderstandings that have arisen over time due to inadequate translations and summaries of the Fundamental Principles and unfamiliarity with the three preliminary studies. This section introduces the most important of these misunderstandings and corrects them with references to the 1935 version of the Fundamental Principles.

What is the Communist Left?

‘Nuevo Curso’ on the communist Lefts that broke with the III. International, and their political heirs

In a concise overview ‘Nuevo Curso’ sets out the primary points of rupture for the left communist currents that have emerged against the degeneration of the Communist International (1919 – 1927), and attempts to trace their main contemporary political heirs or continuations. Special attention is paid to the left communist current in Spain around Grandizo Munis (1912 – 1989) that broke with Trotskyism on the question of the defense of the Soviet Union during the Second World War. The article testifies of the comrades’ vision of left-communism and its currents as a whole, and of their open, critical attitude toward the contemporary political milieu that lays claim to their respective heritage(s), including the Spanish Left they refer to in particular.

Syria: The Real Significance of the US Bombardment

F.D.  (Battaglia Comunista) on the Syrian War campaign

The “surprise attack” in Syria by the USA, the UK and France on Saturday April 14, highlights the level of escalation of the inter-imperialist tensions and confrontations currently attained. As one of the first groups in the internationalist communist Left, the ICT has published a statement, which analyses this situation as an expression of the tendency towards a generalizing of local and regional wars, and clearly points out what is at stake. We recommend this important contribution to our readers.  (AFRD)

Bombardment in Syria: What is to be done in face of war?

‘Nuevo Curso’ apropos of the US “surprise attack” of April 14

» We woke up this morning with the news of the allied attack on Syria. The USA, French and British armies have launched more than 100 shells on Syrian soil, including Damascus and Homs. The objectives, according to the official versions, were the sites and arsenals of chemical weapons. The situation had reached a point of no return and all the actors expected an imminent attack. (¹)

This attack is another example of the criminal development of war tensions around the world. Each of the imperialist capitalisms both in the region – Syria itself, Turkey, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Israel, even Greece and Egypt, now in the second row – as well as in the capitalist centers – France, USA, Great Britain, Germany – they see in the Mediterranean Levant a strategic border where their respective ambitions collide.