Inspired from youth by Albert Camus' sense of the Absurd, I try to be a voice for REASON in the growing darkness and moral insanity of global capitalism .
Monday, October 19, 2026
" Do any groups on the " Far Left " have a different , unflattering opinion of the recently eulogized in " The Militant " SWP financial wizard David Prince ?
Do any groups on the " Far Left " have a different unflattering opinion of the recently eulogized in " The Militant " ( by permanent Socialist Workers Party cult leader Jack Barnes) SWP financial wizard David Prince ? To be sure ," David Prince " is mysteriously obscure .
Yes, external far-left and dissident socialist groups hold a significantly different, highly critical opinion of David Prince, the long-time Socialist Workers Party (SWP) National Committee member.
While The Militant and SWP National Secretary Jack Barnes eulogized Prince following his death as a model working-class Marxist leader, critical commentary from far-left alternative outlets like Radical Rons and various anti-Barnes ex-members paint a starkly contrasting picture.
The primary unflattering perspectives from the broader socialist left focus on three main areas:
1. The "Polite Enforcer" of Internal Expulsions
To external left critics and ex-members, Prince was viewed less as an independent intellectual and more as a key administrative operative for the tightly controlled leadership circle. Because Prince managed high-level logistics and the party’s network of organized supporters, he was frequently the official deployed to accept the forced resignations or carry out the expulsions of departing members. Rather than a "financial wizard," far-left detractors categorize him as a bureaucratic enforcer who helped maintain absolute control for the central leadership.
2. Routine Financial Record Destruction
Left-wing historians and critics frequently point to a controversial legacy rooted in the SWP’s landmark 1980s federal lawsuit against the FBI. While the lawsuit successfully exposed illegal COINTELPRO operations, Prince’s actual witness-stand testimony during the proceedings revealed that the SWP routinely destroyed its own internal financial records. Opposing left factions cite this as systemic evidence that the leadership operated a highly secretive, undemocratic financial structure designed to intentionally hide cash flows from both rank-and-file members and external scrutiny.
3. Ideological Shift Toward Right-Wing and Zionist Alignment
The most severe political criticism leveled at Prince by other far-left elements—such as Trotskyist and anti-imperialist groups—regards his recent ideological positioning. Prince co-authored works like The Fight Against Jew-Hatred and Pogroms in the Imperialist Epoch.
Left-wing critics point out that Barnes used Prince’s eulogy to heavily emphasize a pivot toward supporting Israel's military actions in the Middle East. To traditional far-left organizations, Prince’s alignment with this perspective is viewed as a total political degeneration, abandoning anti-imperialist foundations to effectively support geopolitical aims aligned with Washington and neoconservative platforms.
Would you like to explore more details regarding the 1981 SWP lawsuit against the FBI, or look closer into how the SWP's political platform shifted away from traditional Trotskyism over the decades?
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Ron