were your impressions of the Únited States after your recent visit? 'he at Williams College was about the future of caolarsm. incle was a pane. with the president of Dupont, the chairman of the American Stock Exchange, the president Ford, former chief economic adviser to President Nixon.
On the previous evening I gave a lecture on the future of democratic socialism. I took the opportunity of giving this lecture to about five hundred students, and then taking part in the panel.
What was so interesting and in a way amazing to me that it was exactly like talking The respense on the power of The response on the power corporate capitalism, Street, and the risk of war was way as if I was talking to the Labour Club at one of the London polytechnics or something of that kind.
On the panel, all the American businessmen saying that the government should get off their backs, and productivity was low, and all the stutt that we've heard here for 20 years. The argument but forward. which was that we don't accept capitalism as it's structured in the West, produced a very positive response There's another conference in December which I'm going to, called "The conference on Euro-Socialism and America', where they have invited a lot of trade union people and so on. This will also be a big event. My impression is that in the United States now there siderable interest and curiosity we are saying in the Labour Party in Britain.
Do you think there is a serious prospect establishing American You have to be careful about expectations KnO. think what is happening, the tactics of this may well be right, to try form socialist tendency, a genuine socialist tendency, within the Democratic Party. There's big debate going on as weener socialists should link themselves with Barry Commoner's ecological group whether they should try to form it arouna ine boclanst workers Party or whatever.
Given the context
American society, I think the right thing to do at this stage is to form a labour representation committee and a socialist fraction within the Democratic Party. I believe these are the tactics that Michael Harrington's group and others are pursuing.
It's very early days. It's a bit like Keir Hardie going to the Dundee Congress of the TUC in 1888, when he was denounced for his pains. But I would have thought that was the stage ot develonment in America If you try and do it outside, scoalale 1101 the COOLIE structures, I've no doubt whatthat you could have a bright flame of socialism burning: the question is how many people would be influenced by t? But I can't pretend to have followed this very carefully.
Don't you think that would be in conflict with the interests of Jimmy Carter? Oh yes, there's no question of this. літу. 1VI COOLIES was States Wall Williams solute WCC conof AMERICAN HOOKERS and to of an extreme fiscally conservative element within the Democratic Party. This is widely recognised, if you read some of the literature.
But at the same time I think that there is a merit in starting some king which, it it can have on fluence, will go well beyond the range at this stage ot a socialst party outside the existing structure. lhat is a tactical decision: it's not for me to decide.
What rôle do you think the trade unions can play in the formation of such a party? It would be extremely important in worid labour movement politics if American workers formed a labour It would be, and I think the plan within the there have been links the trade movement. The unions have a fairly this socialist tradition within them, going back to the But.it's weak, and its leadership recent eirs under evene in recent years under Meany TONY BENN spent three days in the United last month at the College, in Massachusetts, where he gave a lecture and took part in a panel discussion.
Pat Kane and Hugh Richards asked him about the state of America, his views on the possibility of forming a labour party there, and the new anti-war movement.
desperately conservative.
But at the same time it's bringing the socialists and the progressive trade union people together under the auspices of Harrington and wno are preparea to give it a party push.
This seems to me to offer the best hope. At this stage you want to encourage its growth everywhere in the United States — you don't want to fix it rigidly in one place see where it grows most strongly.
In the end, of course, there was labour representanon or an ex plicit character with a socialist the Will di would be enormously In this country I'm pretty clear, operate through the Lobs to operate through . union Party. If you're saying about the strong Democratic Party ing something that has far less Wobblies. inherent validity.
You are in favour of the principle of establishing a fabour invitation of Williamstown, LETS AMERICAN Benn on America the actly the same arguments that are taking place here are taking place there, but in more of a minority position.
it is a bigger thing in America, which is the dominant capitalist country in the world, to come to with demands for transforma there. very much behind our own development What was interesting was resoonse what said which was an uncompromising speech of the kind that I might being said dustrialists, bankers, and cronomists when lnere was a big student audience present. Did you get any feeling of inability of America the inability America to intervene in Nicaragua or El Salvador?
I believe that the frustration of American power is one of the dangerous factors in the American situation, rather like the anticolonia stern ent anti-colonial movement leading to the Suez operation.
But it's a great mistake to think that capitalism is about to collapse. One of the difficulties for the left is supposing that the first time capitalism runs into difficulties, either at home or abroad, that the whole thing is about to be toppled. I don't
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