Peter S. Horn
Sacramento, California

Max Elbaum , a close friend, has, I believe, written a definitive work on the revolutionary movement of the 1960's and 1970's. As a participant, I believe that it is factually correct. There is little doubt that sectarianism (left and right), extreme centralization, eclecticism and a refusal to consider the rich history of the American and international left contributed greatly to its' demise.

However, I am a bit more optimistic about the prospects for Marxism-Leninism and a socialist future in the longer term. Of all of the mistakes made, I believe that one of the most prominent was a lack of proper theory. Proper theoretical grounding might well have helped to deal with many of the above and other problems.

I was fortunate to, after early on being inclined to SDS-RYM 11, participate in the Worker-Student Alliance Caucus of SDS and "Friends of the New Voice", a group with origins in Progressive Labor. Although we made our share of mistakes, some of our leaders who were former members of the CPUSA in the 1940's and 1950's, prior to the latter's slide into revisionism, helped greatly in their correction. There is little doubt that the earlier traditional left (IWW, SP, CP, CIO, etc.) was far superior to our "new Left". There was much to learn from our rich history. Our group did some significant work on the development of classes in the United States and the structural development of racism.

In today's environment of degenerate (but not necessarily exhausted) U.S. monopoly capitalism and ultra-imperialism (not as per Mr. Browder) we note the development of an effective mass anti-war movement against the war in Iraq, etc. However, in many other ways, the movement is rudderless and socialist theory is not present.

Revolution in the Air has provided activists, particularly the younger ones, historians and other interested parties an invaluable insight into this important and interesting period. I continue to think that the development of a left-socialist (Marxist-Leninist) trend is certainly feasible and makes quite a bit of sense in the coming years.