From a Scratch – To the Danger of Gangrene¶
Core Argument¶
This chapter captures a pivotal moment in the internal struggle within the Fourth International, where Trotsky diagnoses a creeping theoretical degeneration that threatens the revolutionary project. The core argument is that the Shachtmanite opposition represents not a legitimate factional dispute but a petty-bourgeois tendency whose errors, if left uncorrected, will prove fatal to the party. Trotsky insists that the crisis stems from the conservatism of petty-bourgeois elements, not from workers, and that the party must re-arm theoretically, turning away from intellectuals toward the proletariat.
The discussion unfolds through several interconnected polemics. Trotsky provides documentary evidence from 1937-1939 showing Shachtman's persistent inclination toward petty-bourgeois influence, excessive adaptability to left-wing democrats, and lack of interest in the actual class struggle. He criticises the Socialist Appeal for neglecting the Stalinist Party—which he argues is riven with contradictions and ripe for splits—and for publishing petty-bourgeois intellectuals like Eastman and Lyons. His proposed remedy is Draconian: any petty-bourgeois member who fails to recruit a worker within three to six months should be demoted and expelled.
The theoretical betrayal is most evident in Shachtman and Burnham's claim that dialectical materialism does not necessarily affect concrete political issues. Trotsky identifies this as a capitulation to empiricism, insisting that a proletarian party requires a unified Marxist world outlook. On the USSR, Shachtman's position is contradictory: he supports political revolution against the bureaucracy while undermining its theoretical basis. If the USSR's social foundations automatically determine state policy, no revolution is needed; if it is no longer a workers' state, a social revolution is required. Shachtman replaces class analysis with a theoretical vacuum, opening the door to historical idealism and adventurist politics.
The chapter's historical context is the late 1930s, when the Fourth International was emerging from the declining Comintern and Second International, its American section lacking sound theoretical education. Trotsky draws on Lenin's 1903 struggle against the Mensheviks as an analogy, arguing that the opposition's disdain for the proletarian composition of the Cannon faction repeats that earlier error. He warns that while trade unionists may later need correction, the immediate danger is the petty-bourgeois opposition revising theory and programme. The chapter concludes with Lenin's warning that small mistakes can become mortal, urging Shachtman to halt before the scratch becomes gangrene.