The CPI outs itself!
At last, you no longer have to take our word for it about what happens to you if the CPI leadership does not like a position you take in any debate. You just have to read HERE in the June issue of Socialist Voice and your fate is laid out before you.
Let us recap a little: in the May issue of Socialist Voice, Niall Cullinane stated that “The Socialist Voice is to be commended for providing the only party medium on the Irish left that supports critical debate. Such debate was evident in the February, March, and April editions on unions in the North.”
We commented: “Immediately, the Noam Chomsky warning on the management of debate comes to mind: “The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum – even encourage the more critical and dissident views.”
and
“That is exactly what is happening in Socialist Voice, in this case, around trade unions. Try having a debate within the Party or in Socialist Voice that the leadership does not approve of and see how you get on. It is clear that the debate on the trade unions is taking place because, for whatever reason, the leadership and the editor of Socialist Voice are not prepared to shut Cullinane out.”
What happened next? Jimmy Doran and the June issue of Socialist Voice happened next.
Doran starts an attack on Cullinane with “The Socialist Voice is a useful medium for critical debate on many issues, for advancing the self-determination of the people of Ireland. It is not for promoting or ignoring British colonialism in Ireland.”
Very quickly, Cullinane is then lumped in with “reactionaries” and is an “apologist for colonialism.” Moving up a gear Doran declares that Cullinane’s “narrative is more akin to the TUV than that of a “scientific communist”. (TUV – Traditional Unionist Voice).
Doran being, of course, the “scientific communist” thinks that this is how a debate should be conducted. The problem is not that he disagrees with Cullinane – the problem is that Doran is not confident enough in his own arguments to counter those of Cullinane without attacking Cullinane’s character.
Doran is not the only culprit here. The Editor of Socialist Voice also approved this blatant political thuggery.
Within the Party, this is perfectly acceptable behaviour – well-practiced, fine-tuned and frequently implemented.
The consequence of constantly, and ‘successfully’ resorting to these tactics internally is that the CPI cannot even hold it together to observe the niceties of Chomsky’s dictate. They are so accustomed to resorting to bully-boy tactics that they cannot manage to keep their hostilities under rein even in public.
In our last review of Socialist Voice, we stated that Doran could, at least, be relied on to provide some light relief. On reflection, this was an error on our part: there is nothing light about the seriousness of the work that is required to attract people to the policies of socialism. There is nothing light about the necessity to attract new members and encourage and embrace potential allies. There is nothing light about the absolute necessity for a communist party to be beyond reproach in its policies and its actions.
Having said all that we do owe Doran and Socialist Voice credit for confirming much of what Guerrilla Communists has been saying all along – don’t step out of line in or with the CPI or you will get what’s coming to you.
Often times, it is not the argument or the debate that causes any problems but the manner in which the issues are handled. The CPI simply cannot grasp that fact nor the fact that the merit or demerit of an argument can never be established by ignoring or by shooting the messenger. Doran’s lack of confidence in the veracity of his response to Cullinane is reflected in his need to destroy the character of his ‘opponent’.
But, when did Cullinane become an opponent? Was that before or after he became a reactionary, an apologist and a TUV? Surely, Socialist Voice has not knowingly been publishing material from such a person without letting its readers know the ‘true’ nature of this contributor and the purpose for which his material is being published? Alternatively, Cullinane is none of the above and it is Doran, Socialist Voice and the CPI that has completely lost the run of themselves and disgraced any concept of engaging in reasoned, rational argument?
If the CP really does hold these views about Cullinane there is still no excuse for the way it has been handled. His submission could have been declined or he could have been approached (being a long-time contributor) and given an opportunity to clarify matters. We can only speculate, given the tone of Doran’s attack, that he was not approached.
Instead, the CPI, drunk on its ‘successes’ with both secret and show trials within the Party opted this time for a public trial where once again the conditions under which the accused might respond or defend himself, if he chose to do so, would be entirely in the control of the CPI.
It really is outrageous behaviour that has already enveloped them in traps – traps from which there is no escape other than by repudiating their past and their present.
Fascism and fascists
Meanwhile, the current General Secretary, Jimmy Corcoran, airs his views HERE on the rise of the right – or fascist as they are all inaccurately lumped together. Naturally, everyone else is to blame for this development. And naturally, there is not a single reference to or acknowledgement of the role or, more accurately the non-role, the left including the CPI has played in preventing that growth. Inadvertently, in avoiding any mention of the left, Corcoran gets it exactly right: the left, including the CPI did nothing to stop it. Worse than that, they fanned the flames by refusing to address concerns that people expressed and instead tagged them as right-wingers, fascists, etc just as they did when people questioned aspects of the government and medical response to Covid-19.
The loose and mostly inaccurate description of all the right as fascists is inherently dangerous and counter-productive. In fact, it is an excuse for not having to either accurately analyse the rise of the right or to take any responsibility for the failure to address the issues that have contributed to the serious swing in support for individuals on the right – including a handful of genuine fascists.
This is not analysis. Any ‘analysis’ of the emergence of the right that does not include a single reference to the culpability of the left, including the CPI, is just another indication that it has nothing to offer.
The CPI and Socialist Voice have moved from being providers of mostly quite good analyses but without any organisational strategies, to being providers of wildly inaccurate or unreliable analyses and still with no organisational strategies.
As always, we offer a right of reply to the CPI, Socialist Voice and individuals mentioned in this, or any page, in Guerrilla Communists.