Are there any groups in the First World with revolutionary potential at all?

(leadinglightcommunist.org)

“Dear Leading Light,

Are there any groups in the First World with revolutionary potential at all? I understand that most First World workers possess none.  Are some sweatshop employees, so-called “illegal” Mexican workers, and possibly some prisoners groups in the First World exploited? Can these groups, or any others in the First World, be considered potential allies of the Third World proletariat?  Thank you for your time.”

MSH responds:

Thank you for writing.

In the 1960s and 1970s, for example, some around national liberation and youth movements sought to find a “stand-in proletariat” since the First World working class was thoroughly reactionary. Some sought a “stand-in proletariat” in the rebel youth, others within the lumpen. These views could be found around the Weather Underground and Black Panther circles respectively.  Later, others  sought to make First World women a “stand-in proletariat.” These “stand-in proletariat” theories were not based on thorough material analysis. Rather, they were based mostly on desperation and wishful thinking.

The reality is that there is no significant First World proletariat. There is no significant revolutionary class or socioeconomic group in the First World. The Leading Lights were the first to really address this fact about global class scientifically. This is one reason why Leading Light Communism is the fourth and latest stage of revolutionary science. However, there are exploited and dismally oppressed groups in the First World. These groups tend to be insignificant in terms of making revolution. Sweatshop employees, some migrant populations, some prisoners are exploited in the First World. These populations are very much oppressed. Nonetheless,  these groups are too small, too dispersed, too dynamic, to constitute a reliable and significant revolutionary agent. It may be more fruitful to seek allies amongst these groups than amongst the First World, especially United States, working class. However, it is probably as fruitful to look for allies amongst lumpen, intellectuals, professionals, and youth. Just because these demographic groups are better places to look for allies doesn’t mean the groups themselves are a social base for revolution. First World revolutionaries should become comfortable with the fact that anywhere they look in the First World, the majority will be against them.

Revolutionaries in the First World exist in conditions very different than the Third World. Revolutionaries in the First World cannot mechanically copy the organizational strategies and tactics of the past. To do so is what Mao called a “Wang Ming” error. Rather, they need to create Jacobin strategies that recognize the sad situation that that they find themselves in. Old dogma won’t cut it. Only a creative, living revolutionary science is capable of meeting this challenge. These thoughts guide our movement: 1. global class analysis, 2. global people’s war, 3. cultural revolution, 4. the New Power of the proletariat of the Third World over the First World. Leading Light Communism leads the way.