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Port Huron Revisited
Tom Hayden (center) with members of SDS New York
By Thomas Good
New York City, 30 March 2006, early evening...
My eleven year old son and I took the R train up from Whitehall to Union Square. We were on our way to hear Tom Hayden speak at the Strand Bookstore in the Village. I first heard Hayden in 1974 at Kent State - at a rally called for May 4th, four years after the murders. He was on a bill with Julian Bond and Dan Ellsberg. It was quite a day for a 15 year old self proclaimed New Leftist. My son had heard Hayden speak twice before: the first time he and I attended a tribute for Dave Dellinger where we sat with a number of fellow war resisters, and the second time; we were at a United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) National Assembly - I was a national delegate for the War Resisters League (WRL) and dragged my son Nat along so he could experience a large assembly. He had never seen that many Leftys in one place before. So hearing Hayden was nothing new for either of us. But today was different. Hayden was speaking about the Port Huron Statement. And my son and I - well we were excited as we are both members of the new SDS. What a long journey from 1974 to 2006.
We stepped out of Union Square South and crossed Broadway. I looked across 14th Street and saw the Strand acouple blocks to the south. And then I smiled. I said to my son in a loud voice: that's Tom Hayden right there...he was standing right in front of me waiting for the light. We shook hands and I showed Hayden my son's SDS membership card. Hayden asked Nathaniel: "Did someone force you to join?" Nat replied firmly "No." I smiled - the proud father...on the other side of 14th Street Hayden hooked up with some folks from the Nation magazine - Nat and I went into the Strand and took our seats.
Nancy Bass, daughter of the Strand's owner mc'd the event: she mentioned Hayden and his lifelong commitment to activism; she spoke of Laura Flanders, flambuoyant DJ on Air America who would be interviewing Hayden, and; she spoke of the history of the Strand (she omitted the fact that it has a business union that is not exactly anarchosyndicalist in orientation) and then she called upon Nation editor Katrina vanden Heuvel to introduce Hayden and Flanders. Vanden Heuvel spoke briefly of Hayden's achievements but a recurring theme was his interest in young activists. Near the conclusion of her comments several SDS members from various campuses arrived. We nodded to one another.
Hayden was speaking at the Strand to promo a Thunder's Mouth Press reissue of the Port Huron Statement (PHS to us SDS types). He described it as having been a mission statement of the New Left. Many of the new SDS members in the audience nodded - it remains our core document. Hayden commented that a reissue was important as many college textbooks claim to offer the document but often contain "only about six paragraphs". Hayden mentioned the new, somewhat lengthy introduction to the PHS, explaining that all that has transpired since 1961 (when it was written) necessitated the preface which links past and present. After a synopsis of what was clearly dated: sexist pronouns Hayden found "painful" to read now; positive references to nuclear power (contrasted in the PHS with building nuclear weapons); references to the International Geophysical Year (1958), and; the notion that it was possible to "realign the Democratic Party" Hayden went on to discuss what remains relevant in the PHS.
Hayden began his list with Participatory Democracy itself. Describing it as "a means as well as an end" and proclaiming that the non-elite continue to have too little voice in their own destiny, Hayden went on to make a case for the Venezualan revolution citing their use of the term "Participatory Democracy". Although unfamiliar with the US New Left, Venezualans rejected electoral politics and actively sought a means of involving everyone in the life of their nation. This approach, manifested in a variety of ways, they termed Participatory Democracy (P.D.). Hayden's assertion, that P.D. is an idea, a belief in social justice that won't die, is a cross cultural phenomenon. The use of Direct Action (DA) to obtain Participatory Democracy, Hayden asserted, is also an idea that remains viable. My son smiled up at me as on the way to the event I had done our little Q and A routine: What is Participatory Democracy? A form of self governing where everyone has a say. What is Direct Action? Using any available means to solve a problem and declaring the State irrelevant while building parallel structures that are internally democratic...
The PHS, per Hayden, contained passages that he now finds "sophomoric", passages that "ring with the vision of youth". And yet, the original impulse, to connect the student, labor and peace movements, to create a "community of meaning" remains timeless. Participatory Democracy as the means and end, Direct Action as the tactic still ring true. And these ideas resonate with everyone from progressive Democrats to anarchosyndicalists.
Hayden went on to describe the Dean campaign of 2004 as an example of participatory democracy in that his simple refusal to endorse a war that was so clearly profit driven and illegal inspired so many at the grassroots level to get involved in the political sphere. I found myself wincing here as I have real difficulty accepting this argument - while Dean doubtless hit a nerve it was hardly the first time a Democrat exploited the small-d democratic impulse for personal gain...while I regard Hayden as a radical he clearly has a different view of the Democratic Party, and electoral politics in general, than this observer. I would suppose that Hayden might not accept Randy Shaw's premise that politicians only serve their constituency when they fear and hate that constituency - because said constituency demands accountability in a very vocal way. {1}
Returning to the US, Hayden remarked on the 500,000 protestors who hit the streets of Los Angeles recently to protest the anti-immigrant legislation before the US Congress. This example of Participatory Democracy, said Hayden, is a prime example of how true PD "surprises the pundits and experts". Describing the protest as a rebirth of a social movement in LA Hayden remarked, "Movements begin and end in memory" and this event was "radicalizing East LA kids". One can only hope this radicalization continues and deepens.
Hayden noted that we struggle today against the foes of many centuries past: the crusades, slavery, colonialism and the inquisition. The struggle for women's rights, Hayden argued, is an example of resisting the Inquisition. "I've come to believe that we are engaged in struggles that last 500 years", he stated. "We do have some quick victories (but they are) subject to being stolen away quickly". "It's a long, long story", he added. And yet, ever the youthful radical, Hayden quipped that "I'm Irish, I don't get depressed". He is in it for the long haul...and remains committed to a no holds barred approach when confronting oppression. When Laura Flanders asked if he would support a "Chicago 68 style confrontation" at the 2008 DNC, if the Democratic Party fails to address core issues (e.g. the war in Iraq) Hayden said unequivocally: "Yes". This response was reminiscent of Warren Beautty in Reds - his character John Reed, answered the question 'what is the war in Europe about?' with 'profits'. Hayden's lack of equivocation, his simple statement of radicalism unbound was met with sustained applause.
Hayden went on the explain the schism between early SDS (before Potter's speech at the March on Washington) and the later, hardened, angry tone as being the product of (sds) frustration with the "engineered apathy" of the masses of citizens not involved in struggle and the realization on the part of the more radical activists (including Hayden) that the system would not allow meaningful change to occur, it would kill whomever it needed to. This view was not shared by a large portion of the peace movement which Hayden described as the "pragmatic wing" and which included the Clintons. Hayden went on to say that Hillary Clinton remains the pragmatic peacenik but she requires a "Project Hillary" to activate it as "you can't get the 60s out of the girl". This notion caused me again to reflect on Randy Shaw's fear and loathing thesis...and to hope that CodePINK was continuing to keep pressure on Clinton whom I regard as more opportunist than pragmatist.
Hayden fielded questions from the audience and the focus was on how to best organize on campus and how to get the US to cease it's flirtation with fascism and to finally abandon imperialism. Hayden's approach was twofold: "expose student activists to the world beyond our borders" and get the US to become more comfortable with life "after empire". While I agree that an internationalist perspective is essential for activists I wince when thinking of Hayden's idea that our European allies are over the empire impulse. This is clearly not the case. The arena has shifted from the battlefield to the economic sphere but the goals of financial and cultural domination have hardly been abandoned. Hayden concluded his remarks, answering a question posed by Nancy Bass: what is the best exit strategy for Iraq? Hayden posited that a negotiated ceasefire (with insurgents who are far more organized than our corporate media would have us believe) is the way to go. He spoke of a timetable - a moderate timetable wherein the National Guard units are brought home first and a more radical approach, which he seemed to favor, wherein the troops are removed en massse. I would imaging troops in the field would prefer a ticket home to a posthumous medal or medivac.
It seemed to this observer that Hayden the radical is back. He himself spoke of his eighteen years in the California legislature as "an interlude" between stints of Movement activism. Although I regard some of his ideas about machine Democrats as optimistic at best I am glad the author of the PHS is back amongst those of us who prefer the streets to the Congress. After the forum was ended my young SDS friends and I visited briefly with Tom and he was very generous of spirit - we took several photographs and some of our number got signed copies of the PHS (yours truly being one of this lot). I finally had that opportunity I had been seeking since 1974: to ask Hayden how the Movement could best survive the end of the Viet Nam war. With all the parallels to Viet Nam that make one's head spin it seems clear that Iraq will at last be ended - at some future point. And then what shall we do? Shall we falter as we did in 1974/75? I put this to Hayden, asking him what idea, what plan he had for this eventuality. He looked up from signing my PHS and said: "We're not there yet...we don't have an answer for that yet." I appreciated the candor. I was distressed and relieved that I am not alone in not knowing how we best prepare for the emotional exhaustion that follows the end of an interminable, abominable war. How we maintain the momentum that is so important for a mass movement.
My son and I walked back to Union Square. We had both been impressed with Hayden. I began to think aloud: last time around we had civil rights first, anti-war organizing second in sds...this time it is reversed. But the civil rights issue is raising it's head. At last. As Hayden mentioned: the massive outpouring of opposition to anti-immigration hate bills was an example of participatory democracy...this is what we must organize around now. And after the war...this is one way to keep moving forward. A middleaged New Leftist looked down at his son and smiled...the struggle will continue. My son will teach his. And down the line. After all, if Hayden is right, we have a bit of work ahead of us.
Next Left Notes
(c) 2004,2006 Thomas Good
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