Mass Politics are Class Politics: Lessons From CPI
The Center for Political Innovation, while not being a political party, has been doing foundational work for builing real Working Class democray in the United States. Through this practice, critical lessons can be learned that will be necessary in order to achieve this goal in full. As an educational program, the CPI has focused on reaching out to the Masses and teaching them to understand their own conditions, and the Center for Political Innovation has shown the practical results of this strategy.
Imperialism is the single unifying issue for the Masses across the globe. Imperialism, the system of global exploitation by Monopoly and Finance Capital, has aligned two-thirds of the global population against it and the Imperialist States who benefit from and defend it. But it has also shaped the interests of the domestic Working Class within the Imperialist States by dictating State policy, and directing the products of their labor at self-destructive wars and foreign conflict. By centering its practices in the Masses, the CPI has built a principled anti-imperialist organization that has consistently articulated the needs of the Masses both here at home, and as part of a broader international community of Nations. The CPI has proven that the interests of the Masses are the interests of the Working Class.
Even though CPI is no longer offically a Communist organization, I and other members like me remain Communists. We work within CPI even though it is not a party, and even though it is not Communist, simply because the work it is doing needs to be done. Neither the left or the right can unite the Masses by fighting their culture wars, and we can’t defeat the forces of Monoply and Finance Capital without the Masses. The work of CPI is the same work we must do to build a true Workers’ Party to lead us through the coming struggle. This is the work the Communists must do, and this is the work that CPI is doing.
CPI Founder Caleb Maupin with members of the African Peoples’ Socialist Party, leaders in the Uhuru movment
Where other parties and organizations abandoned Uhuru because they were not “leftist”, we stood by them because they were principled anti-imperialists. Where others have used the Palestinian Genocide to advance their own agenda, we stood with them because their interests were the intrests of the Masses. From the begining we took a principled stance on Russia when others stayed silent, because the interests of the Russian people against Imperialism are also the interests of the American people. It was this focus on the Masses, and our willingness to learn from them, that has allowed the CPI to stay principled where others have faltered.
The CPI, and many of its members, comes from the Left. Caleb Maupin, the organization’s founder, began in the World Workers Party; Ranier Shea began working with the Party for Socialism and Liberation. I came from the orbit of the DSA and its collapse after Bernie Sanders’ 2020 campagin. We have seen first-hand how the Left has failed, and our practice is informed by the lessons of these failures. We do not reject members for their shortcomings, but by educating them we attempt to shape them into capable opponents of Imperialism. By observing the Leftist fixation on Trump and the culture wars, and by rejecting them, we have learned to understand how these forces reflect the Class Interests of the political actors who are driving them.
We don’t work with other organizations and parties to try and influence their internal politics; we don’t believe we can “drag the Libertarians left”. This is not our goal, and this is not who we are. We work alongside organizations like the Libertarian Party because their members have opposed the Imperialist actions which have caused so much harm to the world. We don’t care about their culture; culture is a product of lived reality under existing conditions; our goal is to change those conditions. In the words of Marx “Philosophers have hitherto only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it”.
Communism is not a product of a “correct” culture, and efforts to create a culture that is ahead of its economic conditions are doomed to failure; this lesson was taught by Mao and the disaster that was the Cultural Revolution. We are seeing it unfold in our own time as Gen Z responds to the failures of Leftism by swinging back to the Right. Leftism is not Communism. A Socialist culture is the product of real Socialist conditions, and CPI is taking the necessary steps to establish Socialism with American Characteristics. We cannot erase the material and cultural impacts of the United States; but we can bring it's peoples Socialism and allow them to build a Socialist Culture all their own.
Part of this work is giving voice to the demands of the Masses. In particular we reject the notion of degrowth. While I am well acquainted with the Doomerist theories of Collapse and the dangers of exponential growth and overshoot, I still reject the Liberal notion of Degrowth. I do this because individuals alone cannot alter the course of society. We cannot avoid the results of Climate Change, and the ecological collapse it will precipitate. All hope therefore lies in building a collective society that can address these issues, and guide itself through the storm. We must build a society that can actively manage its own consumption, it's own growth, and it's own need. And doing this requires we build a society where the lower urges of individuals are met, so that society can focus the full weight of its intelligence and consciousness on solving these problems, both within themselves and in their interactions with the broader world around them.
CPI's outlook is thus an optimistic one. We believe that a better world is possible, one where we can achieve a degree of general happiness and a dignified, healthy existence in overcoming these problems. The utopia of “luxury gay space communism” cannot and never will exist. But CPI believes there is a better future for us within the realm of what can exist; this is our Innovation. We are building a community of people to educate each other, and to work towards a brighter future that can be made a reality, instead of getting lost in pessimism or unrealistic ideals.
CPI, with our four point program, will teach the workers to fight for a democracy of the working class, the right of the Masses to dictate our own state of affairs, and negotiate on them with no one. We struggle to give the Workers control of their own economy, and deliberately manage it as they see fit. At its heart, CPI's four point program is intended to guide the Masses in exerting their rights to control their own government; this is where we have to begin in safeguarding our rights to command it.
CPI rally in front of the UN
Because much of our views are counter to the Leftists, and their pessimistic and defeatist views of hating the people, we’ve met with much criticism. They’ve painted us as pro-colonial, “patsoc”, and right-wing, though this couldn’t be further from the truth. It comes from a deep ignorance of our program and beliefs, an ignorance of how the Masses understand themselves and exist as real living Nations and communities of people, and a fundamental lack of faith in the Peoples of the United States and the Masses.
This is one of the reasons I joined; the Left offered theories that I couldn’t reconcile with what I saw of the world. I couldn’t believe that the Masses were enemies of Socialism, while I saw the poverty being imposed on them. I couldn’t believe that the Russian people were wrong when they stood up to fight the Banderist Nazis in Ukraine. And CPI had taken stances matching the conclusions I had already reached; the nazis even declared members of CPI “information terrorists”. If we’re to be judged by our enemies, we can think of no higher praise. But CPI has not just focused on major geopolitical events, they have been doing the real work in building community not just within the United States, but also abroad.
With the relaunch of our website, and reorganization of our structure, we hope to make ourselves a more effective force for the Workers. We aim to continue our work in building with the Masses, and fighting for our interests. We intend to support the interests of the Masses in the political struggles of our own country; despite the fact that Tulsi Gabbard is deeply flawed, her opposition to the Deep State can serve the Masses in their struggle against Imperialism. We do not belive Trump and MAGA represent the interests of the Masses, but that in the factional struggles between the branches of our Ruling Class, the Workers must fight to make themselves heard; CPI will both criticize the Trump administration when they inevitably fall short of the mandate the Workers have given to them, as well as try to counter the Deep State’s maneuvers against them.
When MAGA proves that it is not up to the task of serving the Masses, the CPI will welcome all who come to our doors, whether from the Left or from the Right. This is what building a Mass movment demands; we have to answer the questions the workers have, and provide them with solutions, no matter where they come from.