On the Policy of the KAPD [1]¶
Core Argument¶
On the Policy of the KAPD¶
This chapter constitutes a polemical intervention against the positions advanced by Comrade Gorter on behalf of the Dutch group associated with the KAPD. The core argument is that Gorter's criticisms of the Third International's programme and tactics rest upon a fundamentally flawed theoretical foundation, combining geographical narrow-mindedness with idealistic formalism. Gorter's approach treats the world economy not as an organic unity but as a collection of isolated national fragments, leading him to the erroneous claim that the English proletariat is isolated from colonial struggles. In reality, English capitalism depends utterly upon the colonies, making collaboration with the Indian peasantry essential for proletarian victory in Britain.
The chapter's key claims centre on Gorter's aristocratic pessimism regarding the Western working class. He wrongly asserts that the entire Western proletariat has been bourgeoisified, when in fact only the labour aristocracy has been corrupted. This error generates a fear of the masses that manifests as a retreat into pure propaganda work, an idealistic and rationalist approach that elevates propaganda to an all-encompassing method. Gorter treats trade unions and parliamentarianism as supra-historical categories, failing to recognise that the epoch of reform has passed and that these institutions must be evaluated in their concrete historical connection with all political relations.
The historical context is the revolutionary period following the First World War, when the Communist International was consolidating its strategy against both social democratic reformism and ultra-left sectarianism. The split in the German Independent Social Democracy is presented not as a hollow episode but as confirmation of the International's historical prognosis. Notable polemics include the rejection of Gorter's claim that Orientals lack understanding of bourgeois-democratic politics, which is characterised as conservative narrow-mindedness masquerading as revolutionary thought. On the question of leaders and masses, Gorter's position is exposed as contradictory: his prescription for a small number of good comrades is worthless, since only mass organisations can lead revolution, and his fear of joining the United Communist Party reveals that his own leaders play an inordinate role, infecting workers with mistrust of the masses.