Letter to the Administrative Secretariat, May 6, 1932

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"Blocs" and Absurdities

Dear Comrades:

For your information I am sending along the enclosed two letters which were sent to me by the L. group. The first one asks that my references to Die Permanente Revolution be cut out of my German pamphlets. On this condition the L. group would very generously undertake to circulate them. These people — just listen to this — say they cannot unite with the Permanente Revolution group because of its opportunism: "Lenin taught us to be uncompromising," etc., etc. Their proposition was so absurd that of course I left it unanswered.

Some time later, I received a second letter from this group. By this time a "bloc" of organizations belonging to the Left Opposition was being proposed. For the formation of this "bloc" a conference in Berlin was suggested: we should send two representatives to this conference; the L. group would designate two representatives of their own.

Familiar though we are after two years of experience with this worthless group of schemers, we have to marvel at their proposals: first they explain to us that our organization is opportunist, and therefore they cannot work with us; when they receive no answer from us, they propose a "bloc" with this same opportunist organization.

They are obviously not clear on what they mean by a "bloc." A bloc can be formed around some particular concrete action. They, however, have in mind not a temporary bloc but a permanent federation. To base our work on the federation principle — even when it is a question of a serious group — goes against the ABC of democratic centralism. We would first have to sit down with the L. group and come to an understanding with them on every single question, as though they were a significant force! When there are common grounds for working together, then we have to talk about unification. But the very experience of working with them has proved that there are no such common grounds. In spite of our all too indulgent attitude toward these politically and morally decadent elements, they have grasped the fact — and this in itself must convince them — that our organization is growing while they stand impotent on the sidelines; and so these gentlemen propose a "bloc," a federation of the International Left, on the basis of their line. In other words, they want us to join our organization to an instrument for demoralization and betrayal.

Naturally I have not answered them, and have no intention of doing so. The Left Opposition would not be worth consideration if it had not learned to weigh people and groupings on the strength of the actual work they do, rather than on wholesale formulas. I have no doubt that we wouldn't find a serious revolutionary among the ranks of the International Opposition who would vote to enter into discussions of any kind with bankrupt little schemers. However, since we have new sections which are not too familiar with what has happened, it would probably be worth sending copies of their letters and mine to all sections for their information.

L. Trotsky