Above: Caleb Maupin with two members of the African People’s Socialist Party
The Center for Political Innovation has done something that everyone involved in dissident politics needs to take example from: consistently stand with those who are getting targeted by the state. In 2022, when the African People’s Socialist Party (or Uhuru) got raided for supposedly facilitating Russian interference, virtually none of the left put any effort into aiding Uhuru’s struggle against persecution. And even some of the orgs that claimed to support Uhuru later ended up acting against it. But the CPI has been reliable in helping defend the victims of this assault on liberty; it’s CPI that’s done everything possible to platform Uhuru’s statements, report on the case, and mobilize people towards helping get the charges dropped. This is a major part of why I joined CPI: it’s done the right thing at an extremely crucial moment, seriously resisting the government’s efforts to criminalize antiwar organizing.
Though the CPI no longer identifies as a communist organization, and I’m still a communist, I also think communists in this country can learn a valuable lesson from this story. The task of defending Uhuru isn’t something that can get someone money or significant online attention, but it’s nevertheless been a thing we’ve needed to do. Because Uhuru isn’t trendy, essentially none of the left has been willing to help it; the dominant “socialist” orgs are only interested in whatever will narrowly benefit them. But standing with persecution targets is a necessity, both morally and practically. If we neglect the fight against repression, the state is going to be in place to purge us all. What does it tell you that non-communists are now the ones most willing to defend communists from this repression?
We’ve been lucky that the FBI’s case against Uhuru fell apart within court this September, and the accused Uhuru members weren’t found guilty of conspiring with Russia. They’re still at risk of jail time because the court convicted them for “conspiracy,” but they have a good chance in the appeals process, and a precedent hasn’t been set to criminalize anti-imperialist work. This is in part because of the work from the few who’ve been there for these activists.
As our government gets ready to enact a bipartisan plan for criminalizing Palestine supporters, we need to get a clearer sense of who our friends are. When I was part of the conventional leftist sphere, I was hostile to CPI, because I operated within the social circles that have shunned it. The people around me were all repeating a certain narrative, so I didn’t question that narrative. Then the Ukraine conflict escalated, and I saw how urgent it is for us to build an anti-imperialist united front. Because CPI truly stands with Uhuru, and my old partnered org the PSL has barely focused on it, I found my cause’s real allies.
I looked more into what exactly the differences were between my old circles, and this new one I had found. You might think they’d be compatible; CPI’s four-point plan is something that would likely appeal to anyone who considers themselves a socialist, with the goals being to rebuild the country, have public control over resources, have public control over banking, and create an economic bill of rights. But something that the hegemonic left orgs aren’t willing to do is outwardly profess a desire for growth, for actively building up our industry. And CPI is explicit in wanting growth, because it’s not concerned with fitting the liberal environmentalist image. The idea behind CPI has always been to advance the struggle against monopoly capital in whatever ways prove necessary; that’s where the org’s founder, Caleb Maupin, was coming from when he went on this independent path. Like me, Caleb used to operate within a conventional left org (World Workers Party), and he also was then compelled to help build an alternative to this failed old model.
Since CPI was created four years ago, it’s succeeded in constructing something that can inspire people. It’s created a community where people can lean onto each other, and from this community has come many operations that steer the discourse away from liberal hegemony. An in-person effort to confront Taiwan’s president for instigating tensions with China; timely responses towards imperialist provocations, like this January’s day of action against the bombing of Yemen; distributing literature about our pro-growth perspective to Libertarians and MAGA supporters; these are some of the things the org has done. And it’s undeniably superior to what orgs like PSL have to offer, because whereas those orgs tail behind the masses, our camp takes on an active role. We bring forth the agenda of growth, rather than simply decrying the present system in a general sense while reinforcing anti-growth ideas.
An example of this difference is in how we support nuclear energy, while the bulk of the left is dogmatically against it; to represent the people’s interests, you need to support practical energy solutions. And though CPI is not a party and therefore won’t have a vanguard role, it is an educational project, one that can guide those who may attain state power. To get this power in the first place, one needs to side with the people, which means supporting growth.
Our social climate is increasingly in a place that allows us to make our case to be people, and be well-received. This country is experiencing a political reorientation, where as the Democratic Party shifts ever-further in a neocon direction, the opponents of liberals become the ones who promote antiwar ideas. We’re no longer in the old paradigm where liberals pretended to be antiwar, while consistently advancing imperialism; the pro-imperialist nature of liberals has become unconcealed. So the negation to liberalism is largely manifesting in the form of conservatives who hate neocons. As an organization that seeks to advance anti-imperialism no matter what, the CPI is responding to this by working to reach that disillusioned element. It’s working to build this connection using the label of “innovationism,” with the idea being to convey an agenda of development for our economy. And as the CPI continues with its process of organizationally re-launching, I expect it to pick up more people; especially the types of MAGA supporters who like Tulsi Gabbard, the most relatively antiwar figure within Trump’s circle.
I’ve voiced my concerns about the things that could come about from the Trump cabinet’s pro-Zionist aspects, particularly when it comes to the domestic counterinsurgency. And Caleb Maupin has talked about this part of our situation, saying: “There is so much control over anything Republican by Zionists…it’s gonna be complicated. I’m not telling people we should expect Donald Trump’s presidency is gonna be amazing. It’s gonna be an uphill battle, because there’s gonna be all kinds of different forces pushing on him. But I feel like we have a lot more of an opportunity to push good policies under Trump, we have the opportunity to intervene.”
When the neocons try to block Gabbard from becoming national intelligence director, the CPI will be there to intervene against these political policing efforts. And whenever Trump strays from his mandate for bringing peace, we’ll be there to hold him accountable. If the policies don’t change from this, then that accountability will instead produce an outcome where MAGA is weakened, and more of the MAGA crowd starts looking for new answers. We’re ready to welcome these people into our circle with warmth and respect; and as this process continues, we’ll build a collective political home. One that stands apart from the pro-imperialist toxicity of the liberals, and of the modern left.
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