Joel A Lewis Youth Against Fascism.pdf
Joel A Lewis Youth Against Fascism.pdf
Joel A Lewis Youth Against Fascism.pdf
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THE LENINIST GENERATION<br />
first publication of the YWL contained a sober article lamenting that American workers<br />
had "the least developed class consciousness of any proletariat the world over" and had<br />
"not even begun to think in terms of class consciousness and revolution." 179 The typical<br />
American outlook was not defined primarily by class, but a dominant culture centred on<br />
optimistic constructions of "Americanism." 180 In adapting themselves to the international<br />
outlook, strategies and constraints of the YCI, the YWL had a difficult time coping with<br />
the national realities of American political culture linked with its massive economic<br />
growth.<br />
Like the British YCL, the YWL utilized militant and often sarcastic revolutionary language<br />
intended to dispel illusions youth held concerning their nation. The YWL regularly<br />
invoked rhetoric like "the So-called Land of Opportunity" to expose the realities of<br />
American society under capitalism as obscured by the Americanization movement. 181<br />
The YWL hoped that over time they could "make the American working class revolutionary<br />
in thought, desires and action" by actively "educating and organizing" young<br />
workersthrough industrial struggles. 182 As the twenties progressed, the YWL changed the<br />
format of The Young Worker from a "refined magazine" into a militant newspaper<br />
intended to "educate [YCLers] in the [revolutionary] struggle." 183 Instead of adapting to<br />
the unique elements of American political and youth culture, the YWL continually<br />
embraced a strict international class outlook in accordance to YCI resolutions and<br />
strategies.<br />
The YWL, much like the YCLGB, focussed their primary political energies inward on<br />
the ideological and factional struggles that plagued the Worker's (Communist) Party<br />
(WCP). In a 1938 article in the Young Communist Review, Gil Green took a sobering<br />
look at the early years of the YWL, commenting of the organization's factionalized and<br />
largely isolated existence. 184 Green lamented that throughout the twenties the YWL<br />
remained "a narrow organization with the central task of aiding the Party." 185 Just as the<br />
YCLGB took a lead in internal disputes, the YWL "played no small part in giving active<br />
forces to the Party and in helping it cleanse itself of all corrupt [ideological] alien elements<br />
and influences," including "the expulsion of the Trotzkyites and Lovestonites." 186<br />
Unlike the YCLGB, the YWL had few socialist opponents to blame for their lack of<br />
success. Green admitted that the YWL used "American exceptionalism" and inner-party<br />
struggles as an excuse for perpetuating its isolated existence:<br />
1930 ushered in a new period of sharpening class struggles. It was this crisis of capitalist<br />
economy which caused a special crisis within the ranks and leadership of the YCL.<br />
The new conditions in the country necessitated a new approach; a new outlook, new tactics<br />
and perspectives. One period had come to a close. A new one had begun. The YCL<br />
did not fully understand that its continued isolation from the majority of youth could no<br />
longer be explained by objective conditions or by the requisites of the Party situation.<br />
The factional struggle was over; the Party was united ideologically and organizationally.<br />
Sectarian isolation had become the main danger for the YCL. 187<br />
35