Something that will work
This would almost call for a “mass” movement but here again we must carefully watch our definitions and understanding. By “masses” we need at most only a few hundred thousand more-or-less hardcore people committed to revolution and, to get and keep this discussion down-to-earth, we have been on the verge of going after these few hundred thousand twice before in the history of the Movement in the United States. Not only in theory but in actuality as newspaper headlines and membership rosters showed. First in 1966 and again in 1973.
As strange as it may sound, the opportunities of 1966 were lost well before Commander Rockwell was assassinated. And certainly there was no such single incident in 1973 [comparable to assassination of the leader] that could be easily blamed for the downward trend that next set in. In both instances the revolutionary political groundwork had not been tended to in advance of the laborious and painstaking street work which was eventually—and all too fleetingly—crowned with the reward of some significant numerical clout.
I’m sure also that had the pitfalls of having no solid chain-of-command reinforced and ready for the sudden challenge of hard success somehow been accidentally avoided, then still the moment would have been lost due to a lack of greater direction—a revolutionary plan—when suddenly called for.
And such a thing can rarely be supplied by accident. Getting into the rut of rolling with the blows is dangerous because it gets habit-forming and it numbs the senses and imagination. We have to know exactly what we’d do with a real political machine if we had one right now, for if we were handed one—or the means of getting one and did not know precisely what to do with it, we’d quickly blow it.
In 1966 Commander Rockwell was unable to EXPLOIT the God-given opportunity that presented itself in Chicago that summer and fall. He always considered and referred to himself as being the spearhead of the Right Wing and when the historic moment arrived during the time of the Black riots in major cities, when Commander Rockwell was doing his best spearheading activities, he was LET DOWN AND BETRAYED by his own side.
They failed to act in support even when, as the Commander himself pointed out, they stood to gain more from his efforts than he did because in the main, those people recruited by an intensive, unified Right Wing drive would naturally gravitate toward the “softer”, “easier” names and approaches like the NSRP [National States’ Rights Party] and various Mans. The Commander said all along that he only wanted and would only get what any true spearhead outfit must have: FIGHTING MEN! The apex moment of the 1960’s was thus lost.
In 1973, through constant activity nationwide and through some admirable policies of professionalism, the Movement stood ready to break into what Commander Rockwell would have called “Phase Three”, or the phase of mass action. We then had more leaders than had been on the scene in 1966. Rather than wait for a moment to come, we made our own. Not only that but we also chose the place: Cleveland. Over one hundred uniformed, helmeted Troopers marched down the middle of Euclid Avenue that Labor Day and formed-up in a public square for a rally.
And though the opposition was there—from the System and from the Reds—we were too strong. Had that sort of show of strength and discipline been maintained and repeated in various other cities it most likely would have, first, broken the “spell” of thousands who were hovering on the brink of committing openly and, second, prompted panic reactions on the part of every aspect of our racial Enemy thus providing obvious and inescapable openings for further and greater EXPLOTATION.
What set in next, both in 1966 and 1973, is what we must now learn to recognize and make our new effort far less vulnerable—if not altogether immune—to. There seemed to be no absolute commitment to REVOLUTION. No one seemed to know what the goal really was. The prevailing leadership at both times used the term “White Revolution” copiously in their propaganda but they thought only in terms of a revolutionary ideal or of a revolutionary social change far down the road somewhere.
They did not fully subscribe to TOTAL REVOLUTION NOW! And not only the men at the very top. The one-man show has proved it can’t get to first base. To be legitimate, a revolutionary political movement must have at least about a dozen or more leading, prominent figures. No one among the cadres being built at those times (with the single outstanding exception of Joseph Tommasi) was thinking purely revolutionary.
Everyone had their own ideas, and were bent on doing their own trip. When the “fun” stopped, when the “thrill” wore off, when the self-gratification halted, they split. Also because they had their own conceptions, most of the rules of good common sense got walked all over—primarily during and after 1973—resulting in petty bureaucracy followed closely by alienation and the effective destruction of the one party.
Had everyone concerned been completely committed to REVOLUTION OVER THE SYSTEM then it would have been a much easier task to sublimate the personal feelings and weaknesses which destroyed their efforts ultimately. The most incompatible of personalities can work together effectively for revolution but hardly for a damned thing else.
The most limited and klutzy individual can understand the common sacred drive to SMASH THE SYSTEM. Everyone can find his or her proper place in the WAR AGAINST THE ESTABLISHMENT. The Communists have proven this in a dozen historic cases, all of them recent. Once we get our fallible and undependable selves sublimated to REVOLUTION then the rest should come easy when compared to the endless, nowhere drag of past years.
Once accomplished, then all the “right” and the high ideals will have some meaning and can be put to some use. Instead of the current hindrance, they will have become the “end” that justifies whatever “means” may be necessary.
Vol. XI #1 – January, 1982
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