Marxists - can only be of help to all of us, especially working class militants. I know that there are many even among the various "Stalinist" organisations who want to know more about how and why, for example, the USSR collapsed, or why Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh retained a high regard for the "Trotskyist" leader Ta Thu Tau all his life. What was the POUM in Spain? What was the significance of the original Socialist Labor Party in the USA and its British counterparts only this century? Who were Liu Piao and Ch'en Tu-Hsiu in China? Antonio Gramsci and Amadeo Bordiga in Italy? What was Allemanist socialism in 19th century France? What books did James Connolly write and where can you find them now? There are so many vital questions people need guidance on. Invitations should be sent out for an open historical conference of socialists as soon as possible (to be held this year or, at latest, next year), with a view to setting up a general historical commission. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Why doesn't Socialist Outlook take a lead in these plans through. its pages? Someone has to.
Steve Metcalfe President Lancaster TUC, Chair Lancaster 0844 RMT Post Code Age