[Page 13, not divided by machine: With the masses in the war (Richard Dean); Unions back CLPD ideas (Francis Prideaux); Socialist Bookshelf: Ten Days that Shook the World (Ian Swindale); Japan leads on IQ (Davy Jones); Dangers of drugs (Les Hearn)]

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lan Swindale re-reads the classic account of the Russian Revolution, "Ten Days That Shook the World" by John Reed, published in I REFER to Donnie Brooks' letter in last week's Socialist Organiser entitled 'Wrenching quotes from Trotsky" • The purpose of the letter was to discredit the quotes from Trotsky used by the vast majority of the Trotskyist movement to illustrate Trotsky's view that it is sometimes necessary to support reactionary third world regimes when they are attacked by imperialism:

Comrade Brooks uses the usual method of discrediting historical quotes by asserting that they are 'out of date" , "torn out of context" or whatever.

Naturally all historical quotes have the weakness caused by the passage of time. Certainly there can be no perfect parallels. The point however is whether they hold true or not and in this case they undoubtedly do.

Repeatedly, on numerous conflicts and projections - China, Brazil and Mexico - Trotsky argues that it is perfectly possible to stand on the side of a reactionary regime which is also thrown into conflict with Lab imperialism. here The similarities or other- frin wise between the Falkland wit war and the Japanese tary invasion of China can be chai debated. What cannot be debated is that Trotsky con stood on the side of the incr Chiang Kai Shek regime. thor nature of China's regime, he ala not start with the in b but its relationship to prio imperialism.

Leadership who Starting from that defe position, Trotsky concluded refo that in such a war revolu- con tionaries must work and out! organise within the anti- latte imperialist masses in order opp fight 07 те- • list establish themselves in the leadership of the masses.

This is where Socialist: Organiser's position of defeatism on both sides, which comrade Brooks implicitly defends, is so dangerous. In Argentina, SO calls for the working class to fight against the war, in other words against the aspirations of the anti-imperialist masses.

It would call for the blacking of supplies to the. war effort and for the with-l drawal of the Argentine troops from the Falklands in the face of the British offensive - which would hand victory on a plate to Thatcher.

Such a position is alright if like SO you are neutral on the war. But in Argentina and in Latin America as a whole, it would isolate revolutionaries for many years to come.

Revolutionaries in Argentina should follow Trotsky's advice leven if it was written as long ago as the Transitional Programme) and fight for leadership inside the anti-imperialist masses. Unly in that way can they turn it into a real struggle not! only against imperialism but against Galtieri and Argentine capitalism.

RICHARD DEAN

Oxford TH goo crat con mit UC. to 1 hun kinı fort poo agel Рar1 the wid itise an witl prar tact new CLI E last week in May was a id one for Party democy. Nearly a million Party iference votes were comted at the GMWU, ATT, AUEW/TASS etc) the struggle against witchIts.

Barring dirty work, some d of unity should . there• be achieved in BlackThis year's ASTMS nda. was stuffed full of ty democracy issues, but effort was spread too ely so none were priorsd for debate. However, excellent fringe meeting h Joan Maynard led to ctical discussion of future tics as well as welcome 1 members and money for The NUPE Conference • failed to reach the our Party composite but = again a constructive ge discussion was held b Deputy General Secre* Tom Sawyer in the ir.

A feature of both these ferences was the eased impact of women, on within pa Jo roth cases still regarded as higher campaigning urity than the position of nen within the Party as a sle.

Strong determination to end m the democratic irms was exhibited by the ferences of TASS, and standingly, UCATT. The er joined the NUPE EC in osing the divisive shortof one manoeuvre and in NON: supporting the right of CLPs to select Parliamentary candidates without political interference.

The builders also called for Labour democracy in local government, a properly democratised PLP with recorded voting on all major issues, and a Manifesto commitment to take into public ownership at least 25 of the hundred largest privately owned manufacturing companies.

On the Bermondsey issue, Bill O'Shaughnessy stressed that what was at stake was not the personal merits of Peter Tatchell but the fundamental right of the CLP.

The union did not fight for mandatory reselection to have it overturned at the whim of a few individuals.

The NEC must endorse Bermondsey's choice without further delay.

"They will not find a scab to replace him no matter how hard they rake through the gutter."

geB:O Ste EDDE For the union executive, Charlie Kelly warmly endorsed all the democratic proposals and particularly stressed the need for the Party NEC to press for the abolition of the shortlist of one manoeuvre by the 1982 Party conference.

Supporting resolutions to this effect must therefore be a top priority.

It was also successfully moved by Jim Franklin that only comrades holding views in line with UCATT policy should receive the union's support in Labour Party The logic of this principle is bound to interest comrades elsewhere.

Rank and file activists in a whole number of unions are increasingly determined to make their presence felt in Labour Party affairs. Things are on the move. Draft resolutions for Labour Party conferende can be obtained from CLPD, 10, Park Drive, London NW11 7SH, Tel: 01-458 1501. THOSE who use IQ data to demonstrate the innate superiority of the white race must have received a jolt last week with the publication in the science magazine 'Nature' of an article showing that the average IQ of young Japanese is, at 111, some 9 points higher than the average American or Western European IQ.

According to Richard Lunn, Japanese IQ has risen dramatically this century, and by some 7 points in the course of one generation. Since even 6-year olds show the increase, it cannot, Lunn claims, be due to education.

But, as an accompanying commentary by Nature staff writer Alun Anderson points out, Japanese society has been turned upside down in the last 50 years; in the period between 1930 and 1960, 40% of the population moved from the country to esthe cities.

The t accompanying proletárianisation of isolapaperback by Penguin The first time I read this 'slice of intensified history" was in the early '60s when, as a school student eager to find out what the Russian Revolution had really been about, I picked up a copy in my local library.

At first baffled by the large array of political parties and popular organisations with strange names — Bolsheviks, Mensheviks, Cadets, Soviets, Dumas -I quickly became absorbed by the vivid account of the first days of the Revolution put together by Reed.

As an American journalist, but also a supporter of the Bolsheviks, Reed was able to pass more or less with immunity from one side to the other to interview the leaders of the main parties, and talk to leading capitalists on the one hand and ordinary workers and soldiers on the other.

Although at one point he was put against a wall and nearly shot by Red Guards who took him to be a spy, he was able to come and go, witnessing many of the key events of the Revolution.

It is hardly surprising then that the revolution should come alive in the pages of his book. Here we can read the proclamations of the Military Revolutionary Committee, led by Trotsky, which organised the insurrection, and the Decrees on Peace and Land passed by the Congress of Soviets on the first day of the Revolution. - We can hear the bourgeoisie who had condemned Russian soldiers for failing to fight hard enough against Germany, praying now that the Kaiser's armies would come soon and smash the Bolsheviks. ted peasant, communities, rapid economic growth, and consequent improvements in nutrition, health, welfare and education, and growing influence of Western culture, have all probably contributed to the improvement in IQ score lon American-designed tests), in growth and life expectancy.

SOME readers questioned my statement that "heroin, taken hygienically and in moderation has few if any long-term effects"

My source for this information was a lecture, by the head of drugs research for Rockitt and. Colman's Pharmaceutical Division, on the properties of the various opiate drugs. This does not mean that heroin is a safe drug under all circumstances.

-For one thing, the lethal dose is fairly close to the effective dose (the amount that is necded to make you fool good rand açcidental over-dose is a frequent, cause.

Organiser, Thursday. at £1.95.

We can smile in amusement at the leaders of the other socialist parties as they walk out of the Congress of Soviets in order to "go and die" at the Winter Palace in the company of counter-revolutionaries 'in defence of the (bourgeois) revolution" • (Needless to say, none of them actually did die there. The Red Guards wouldn't let them in, so they went home!)

And through all the confusion, the mistakes and chaos of the revolution we can sense the huge awakening of the ordinary peasants, workers and soldiers - many of the illiterate -as they grapple with the politics of the various revolutionary organisations; as they try in the midst of rumours and proclamations from all sides to work out who is fighting on their behalf and who has crossed over to the class enemy.

Endless political debate, the eager reading of newspapers, pamphlets and leaflets, a minimum of sleep and meals hurriedly eaten between rushing from one flashpoint to another - this was the life led by the Red Guards the factory workers and army battalions in revolutionary Petrograd and elsewhere in those days.

The Bolsheviks seemed to be completely isolated, having seized power. Against them stood the bourgeoisie, the yunkers, the Cossacks, teachers, students, clerical workers, even some sections of the working class, like the railway workers union, and of course all the other socialist parties.

But in reality they were far from being isolated So, no surprises really, except for those who consider that IQ is mostly determined by genetic factors.

Why Japanese IQ should be higher than American or European IQ remains a mystery, and whether it means that Japanese are more intelligent (whatever that means) or simply of death.

But as far as side-effects are concerned, the most notable ones are constipation, loss of ability in men to erect and ejaculate, and insensitivity to pain (it is an anaesthetic, after all) which can lead to injuries going unnoticed.

The only long-term effect of continued use of heroin is physical addiction, whch sets in after about a month of regular use.

Now while we may not think addiction is a good thing, its most serious side., effecti is , the, y withdrawal,, symptom, caused by inter+ it actr because behind them stood the mass of workers and " soldiers.

As news of the revolution in Petrograd spread to the front and throughout Russia, local Soviets fought to establish their own power.

But in the first few days. covered by Reed's book. the crucial question was securing the revolution in Petrograd against counter-attack by the forces still loyal to Kerensky.

Here, chaos seemed to rule supreme. Nobody seemed to know where Kerensky was or how near to Petrograd his troops had advanced. Rumours spread like wildfire, while those who were eager to defend the revolution were unorganised and no overall strategy existed to defend the city.

But the tireless work of the Military Revolutionary Committee, the determination of the workers and soldiers to defend their revolution and the appointment of sympathetic officers to lead the revolutionary troops resulted in Kerensky's forces being thrown back.

Petrograd was saved and the erupted again throughout Russia.

By the time I had finished reading the book on that first occasion, I was completely convinced that the Russian Revolution had been both the most important event of the 20th century and the most democratic expression of the will of the masses ever to have taken place.

Even in a country where the working masses had been kept in deliberate ignorance by their ruling class it had been possible for the ordinary people to grasp where their interests lay and to make whatever sacrifices were necessary to win the struggle for power.

The rich and the educated scoffed at them, dirty, badly clothed, poorly educated and inarticulate - the 'Dark People' But they fought with tenacity against all the odds to establish the world's first workers' state.

I have re-read the book several times in the last 15 years and on each occasion I have felt inspired by Reed's account of the unfolding Revolution. And with an introduction by Lenin, recommending the book to the workers of the world, what more needs to be said? Read it! better at IQ tests questionable.

What this data does not support is the author's contention that the Japan- 1.L - 1 11. ese IQ advantage has been significant factor in Japan's post-war economic growth. That really is putting the cart before the horse.

Les Hearn ruption of supply be fatal).

In contrast, use of alcohol and nicotine carry with them a bewildering number of damaging sile effects and long-term effects (some of these were outlined for alcohol by Davy Jones in SO 82).

In this sense therefore it is possible to say that heroin is a safer drug than alcohol or nicotine.

However, over-use of any drug is a bad thing and is socialists we should li particularly worried that both alcoholism and heroin' addictions are , increasing among young unemployed

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Organiser, Thursday 3 June Page 14

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