James T. Farrell | Trotskyist Writers | ETOL Home Page
From Labor Action, Vol. 10 No. 17, 29 April 1946, p. 3-M.
Transcribed & marked up by Einde O’Callaghan for the Encyclopaedia of Trotskyism On-Line (ETOL).
Dear Friends and Comrades:
Permit me to send you May Day greetings. May Day is usually the occasion for a renewal of hopes in the socialist future. However, the valuable and highly precious feelings which we experience on May Day often lead many to overvalue small gains and to draw from these falsely optimistic conclusions.
The origin of May Day is American: it is a product of the struggles of the American workers. However, the American socialist movement has not given a development in theory which runs parallel to the greatness and deep significance of this holiday which is the outgrowth of the workers’ movement. In the face of the terrible defeats and equally terrible disillusionments suffered all over the world in recent decades, the all-importance of a new and rigorous development of theory has now become crucial.
It is important, I believe, on this May Day to stress the essential need of serious theoretical effort. In America, the ideas of Marx are as yet understood only by a small and uninfluential minority. This year in the May Day renewal of the hope for socialism I trust that all will dedicate themselves to the task of studying, advancing and looking with fresh eyes on the fundamental and impregnable theories of Marxian socialism.
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Fraternally yours, |
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