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http://www.scottishrepublicansocialistmovement.org

Remembering John MacLean

Remembering John MacLean

By Peter Urban

It is appropriate today, with the possibility of Scottish independence within sight and the working class of Scotland again confronted by the misery with which the system of capitalism fills their lives, but it is not sufficient to pay tribute to the man; it is important to pay attention to him as well. MacLean may easily lend himself as a symbol, an icon, to the contemporary struggle, but he has wisdom to lend to it as well and the Scottish working class would do well to make use of it.

MacLean was no romantic nationalist. He was a revolutionary socialist and he articulated a compelling case for the creation of an independent Scottish workers’ republic. MacLean observed the reality of the revolutionary temperaments of the Scottish and English working classes and asserted that so long as the working class in Scotland remained bound to that of England, it would face far greater obstacles in the path towards its own liberation through the destruction of the capitalist system.

Is any more evidence needed to testify to the continuing relevance of this analysis than the reality of a Tory government for the UK, while a Plaid/Labour coalition dominates the Welsh Assembly and the SNP dominates the Scottish Assembly? Today, as in MacLean’s day, the Welsh and Scottish working people stand out as far more radicalized than their counterparts in England. Independence for Scotland and Wales represents the best opportunity for those nations to achieve a working class victory over the system of capitalism and it cannot be denied that the dismantling of the ancient regime called the “United Kingdom” would be a blow to the whole of British imperialism.

But there are even greater lessons to be learned from John MacLean and that other great Scottish-born revolutionary, James Connolly. Scottish workers must not fail to learn from these towering figures from Scotland’s history that independence alone is not enough. More, independence alone is meaningless for Scottish workers. The fight for an independent Scotland must be made but an aspect of the larger struggle to create a Scottish workers’ republic; an independent republic wherein the working class alone controls the economic and political destiny of the nation. It is impossible in this era of globalization to separate Scottish capitalists from the interests they share with those of their class in England, as well as elsewhere in the EU, in North America, and throughout the globe and those interests are irreconcilable with the interests of working people. We have born the burden of this wretched and archaic long enough; the time has come to cast it off and move forward under our own guidance and in our own collective interests; and the way forward to such a future lies in the creation of a Scottish workers’ republic and cannot be attained through anything short of that.

In closing, there is yet another lesson from the great John MacLean that I would remind working people in Scotland about. MacLean, with Big Jim Larkin of Ireland, and Sylvia Pankhurst in England were participants in a founding congress for the Communist Workers’ International, convened by the Dutch revolutionary socialist Hermann Gorter. This was a congress of what we have come to call Council Communists today, from throughout the world. I make this point, because the revolutionary socialist current represented by those who attended that congress has been too long ignored and it offers today, as it did then, a path to socialist revolution suited to the conditions of a highly developed capitalist nation; a compelling and liberating alternative to the Bolshevik tradition that workers today would do well to reexamine.It is a fine thing that we today have assembled to remember and pay tribute to the memory of John MacLean; it would be a finer thing still if when we leave here today, we reflected on the insightful analysis that he left to us and seek to apply them to the challenges we confront in this present day. It is long-past due that we should, in this sense, bring John MacLean back to the Clyde.

All Hail the Scottish Workers’ Republic! The future lies before us.

Peter Urban

Comrade, International Republican Socialist Network

From Independence to a Scottish Socialist Republic

Hugo Chavez democratically elected socialist President of Venezuela

An Independent Scotland has a better chance of adopting not only policies that are social democratic in values but a transformation to socialism.

A Socialist Republic need not be scary for most Scots. We are supporting socialist transformation by way of the ballot box and constitutional change. This does not mean we ditch the idea of revolutionary change but proceed one step at a time.

And why socialism? Well we need to protect vital public services and have a health service and social welfare fit for purpose. We also need to embrace change in society and improve the mindset of the Scottish people to adopt a more positive view of their country. Capitalism promotes profit, greed, hopelessness and general negativity.

However as Scottish Republican Socialists we recognise the need for change by democratic means in other words carrying the Scottish people with us.

Our goal therefore is to firstly gain independence in 2014 but secure a better society thus seeking constant improvement through power gain and socialist transformation.

A Scottish Socialist Republic where politicians do not abuse their power and serve the best intentions and aspirations of the people. We only need to read about the expenses scandal of MPs at Westminster to doubt their sincerity under British rule.

And we need to ditch the monarchy and end the obscene class division in society in an ever increasing gap between the haves and have not. Ensure programmes for jobs and a strong public service

In Venezuela despite it's problem of violence in that country today is a more mature and stable country with the socialist Government ensuring oil wealth benefits the people including poor and needy. President Hugo Chavez re-elected recently with a popular democratic mandate for another six years. And I pay tribute to their modern electronic voting system that ensures the smooth running of elections.

In Cuba the Castro Administration seeks to improve the country with ongoing reform under the gains of socialism. Their achievements are very real and why no society or government is perfect the Cubans are more listened too by the powers that be than Scottish people are by Westminster.

So anyway firstly we must walk before we can run. Our goal is to gain freedom in two years time by persuading the people before then that the choice they face is a No vote achieves no change and more austerity or vote YES for change and plentiful prosperity. Things cannot get any worse under Tory/Lib Dem London rule or even if a Labour government was elected on 7 May 2015 more austerity measures are on the way remaining part of the UK.

We have a choice therefore to break from the failed British system and elect a social democratic government in Scotland while we will campaign for a democratic socialist republic of Scotland.

In short a Scottish Workers Republic.

We have proved in Scotland that we can elect a successful administration or Scottish Government under Devolution therefore the scope for change by way of independence and greater improvement through responsible and better governance is even greater.

Larry

As posted on Poblachd na h-Alba today

http://www.scotsrepublic.com

Scottish Workers Republican Party

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Scottish Workers Republican Party (SWRP) was formed by the Scottish Marxist activist John Maclean (1879-1923) in the 1910s. It advocated the political doctrine of communism, whilst also supporting Scottish independence. This dual communist-nationalist doctrine was heavily influenced by the thinking of James Connolly who similarly believed in socialism and independence for Ireland and had set up his Irish Socialist Republican Party in 1896. MacLean argued that the break-up of the British state and empire would aid the cause of world-wide socialism and thus he supported the idea of an independent Scotland. This inherent nationalism alienated the SWRP from the mainstream British left though. The SWRP carried on its political activity for some time after the death of MacLean in 1923 but never made any real impact politically. An organisation which resurrected the name Scottish Workers Republican Party was formed in 1974 as a split from the Scottish Republican Socialist Clubs (forerunner of the Scottish Republican Socialist Party). In 1976 most of the members of the SWRP joined Jim Sillars' Scottish Labour Party and this SWRP Mark II party also became defunct.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Workers_Republican_Party

Open letter to Scottish Independence Movement

Firstly I hope the lads and lassies in Siol do not mind me displaying one of their photos here.

Secondly would like to make clear in my latest post on Scottish Republic that I urge the people behind Bella Caledonia to lobby the SNP for support.

I see the Bella Caledonia protest as harmless and significant but I think they should also bring the SNP and whole of the Scottish Independence Movement with them and not protest simply in isolation or merely online.

As for new Irish beginnings in Scotland and comrades in IRSP Alba, they are Irish Republican Socialists that deserve support for their efforts. However when and should the Irish or Scots Irish groupings give support to Scottish Republicans, I think they should be open to accept advice from Scots, and work with the good offices of the Scottish Republican Socialist Movement (SRSM).

And let me say only support for the SNP will bring about a vote for change and to move towards freedom and independence, particularly in the first instance. As for the Scottish Independence Movement they will all have to understand the importance of unity against a formidable unionist enemy. This goes for all nationalist groupings and movements in Scotland. We have to avoid splits and divisions that weaken the Spirit of Freedom.

We will break the confidence of the unionist enemy in good time. The phoenix will rise in Scotland and we should prepare for coming battles.

However we must respect our fellow Irish and learn the lessons of struggle by constitutional means or otherwise. The spirit of our national hero John MacLean is as strong as James Connolly was for Ireland.

As for others on the left, the Scottish Socialist Party may claim to be pro-independence but they undermine the efforts of left wing nationalists like myself with their attacks on the SNP and desire for rainbow flags and politics. The message from Republican Socialists such as myself is loud and clear put Scottish independence to the top of your political agenda and entrench such in your constitution. This also applies to my former comrades in Solidarity.

I can write more on my blog about the need to support the SNP and the useful valuable work of Scottish Republicans such as SRSM and how we all need to work together.

From the distinctive band of patriots in nationalist groupings up an down the country we will not weaken in the harder times that face Scotland. I mean the cuts to public services, and a large cut in the so called budget from London, in which we would not be asked to depend on if we were free.

Until Alba gets her independence I echo the SNP in calling for full fiscal autonomy.

As for Scottish Republic it is a weblog that will follow the progress of the inevitable destruction of unionism, and the desire to defeat loyalty to all things described as British in this Scottish Nation.

The Scots behind banners such as "End London Rule" should be respected as they represent the beginning of freedom like a drop of water to a river that runs free.

I wish to say if Scottish patriots want to link up with this weblog and stand up as a force for unity you are very welcome. All nationalists are hereby invited to post their views here. Contact details are redlarry1962@googlemail.com and prepare some questions that you would like to answer here. Names of organisations are welcome as names of individuals are not necessarily important.

All private correspondence will be treated in the strictest of confidence and respect.

Yours For Scotland
Larry
Independent Republican Socialist

IRSN MacLean Commemoration Statement

IRSN MacLean Commemoration Statement

Comrades,

As Scottish Republican Socialists gather again this year to pay tribute to the inspiration provided by John MacLean, the comrades of the International Republican Socialist Network join you in saluting this giant of the international socialist movement.

The lessons that John MacLean provided in his own time are just as important today, perhaps more so, as the Scottish working class is now in a period of potential opportunity that is unequaled. MacLean recognised that the potential for working class revolution was greater in Scotland than it was in the island of Britain as a whole and on this basis insisted that Scottish workers organise separately, into a distinct revolutionary party. MacLean was no narrow or romantic nationalist- -he was an exemplary internationalist, recognised throughout the international socialist movement for his work in opposition to the fratricide of the first world war--but he understood that the struggle for socialism throughout the islands of Britain and Ireland demanded the destruction of the British imperial state and saw that revolutionary action in Scotland provided a means of striking a blow against British imperialism, assisting the revolutionary forces then active in Ireland, and enabling Sc!
ottish workers their best opportunity for class liberation.

Today in the islands of Britain and Ireland, it remains necessary to undermine and overthrow the reactionary British imperialist state and it is clear that Scottish and Welsh workers would be more powerful within the confines of their distinct nations, at present, than they are when forced to contend with the greater bastions of reaction within England as well. Far from abandoning their English sisters and brothers, this revolutionary strategy offers a means to strike significant blows against the entire British state, which can only assist working class revolutionaries within the English nation.

However, Scottish workers must remember that the republican socialist struggle welds together the fight for national liberation and the struggle to liberate our class. As that other great Scottish-born republican socialist, James Connolly, made plain, these struggles cannot be separated. The national liberation struggle in Scotland can only be won in a meaningful way for Scottish working people through the creation of a Scottish workers' republic and the struggle for socialism in Scotland cannot be won without the destruction of the imperial British state, which means the liberation of the Scottish and Welsh nations from continued union within that state. There is no first this and then this. There is one fight to be one--the struggle to build a Scottish workers' republic and anything that falls short of that is no stepping stone or way-station, but only defeat.

But, there is another aspect of John MacLean's analysis that continues to hold important lessons for Scottish working people; one that receives far less attention. As the historical research of James Young has demonstrated, John MacLean aligned himself with other revolutionary socialists internationally; in Germany and the Netherlands, in Italy and Ireland, in Russia and America who we now refer to by the term Council Communists. This was a revolutionary tendency within international socialism that sought to return to Marx and Engels' understanding that it is the working class itself that can make a social revolution, not any party acting in its name; that it is the working class itself that must lead the way forward to class war and social revolution, because the consciousness of socialism arises from their actual experience under capitalism.

This too, we must learn from MacLean today--our class creates all of the wealth in the world; every wheel that turns does so because our class enables it to; and we need no leadership provided by any class other than our own to determine the road to liberation. The working class movement does not belong in the hands of university lecturers, trade union bureaucrats, or members of the parliament or assembly. but must be led by the working class itself, confident in its own abilities. This lesson from John MacLean is as important for Scottish working women and men today as is his pioneering vision in calling for a Scottish Workers' Republic.

Comrades, today let us pay tribute to the tremendous example provided by John MacLean and let us also re-dedicate ourselves to fight for the Scottish Workers' Republic he first proclaimed and to ensuring that it will be a true Workers' Republic, led by our own class, standing proudly shoulder-to- shoulder. We have been naught, but we shall be all!

Peter Urban
Comrade, International Republican Socialist Network

Building a Republican Socialist Voice

What is necessary to create Democracy for Scotland in the coming months and years is for the Scottish Left to embrace the beliefs and aspirations of true republican socialism. That we are clear that the economic and social problems that weigh heavily down on Scotland have to be tackled with independence and socialism and a programme that is created by and for republican socialists in line with wishes of the Scottish Left.

While the Left Unity initiative should be welcomed for socialists and trade unionists to provide a united front to the electorate what is also required is a programnme of intent for republican socialists to present as a new model for activism as a basis to rally around our beliefs and campaign for the objectives of the Scottish Socialist Republic.

What is needed is alternatives to the moribund and inept tenets of nationalism.

That the SNP alone cannot liberate Scotland from issues of social decline or poverty it has suffered through the years.

That activism goes beyond misplaced faith in parliamentary solutions and represents core principles that we can unite and fight around to secure a new society based on need instead of greed.

That to secure democracy is not just about independence but removing the exisiting institutions and representatives of the British state and building and creating new ones. That Scotland no longer lives under the shadow of the crown or it's powers.

That Scottish independence is a necessary first step to a socialist republic so republican socialists actively campaign for a referendum on independence.

And activism means street activity to go out to the people and sell the beliefs and message of republican socialism. That a programme of action be drawn up that goes beyond one party input or sectarianism and persuades sections of the Scottish Left of the importance and lack of contradiction in utilising republican socialists principles and beliefs when fighting for a Socialist Republic against a monarchist system.

The above is set out by the Scottish Socialist Freedom Group more will follow.

Scottish Revolutionary John MacLean

From Workers Web John MacLean commemorative collection

Biography: John MacLean (1879-1923) was a Scottish schoolteacher and Marxist educator. His Marxist evening-classes produced many of the activists who became instrumental in the Clyde revolts during and after WWI. MacLean was appointed both an Honorary President of the first Congress of Soviets and Soviet Consul to Scotland in recognition of his consistent socialist position on the imperialist war and his tireless work in support of the Bolshevik revolution.

MacLean was at odds with much of the British left and dismissive of the newly-formed Communist Party of Great Britain. He had already turned his back on economism and the syndicalism favoured by the Clyde Workers' Committee, had recognised the nature of British imperialism and come to the conclusion that revolution could only come about through the destruction of the British Empire.

He died on 30th November, 1923.