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India: Banks Steal Workers' Cash

Communism Will End Capitalism's Money System

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Over half a billion people in India waited in endless lines after the fascist Modi government cancelled Rs. 500 ($8) and Rs.1000 ($16) bills to replace them with new notes.  This “demonetization” diverted 86% of India’s economy to large multinationals and banks.
Here’s how it works. If a worker had 1000 Rs. (old bills) they had to turn them in for new bills.  But they only get back 100 Rs. in cash.  The rest goes into a bank account.  They can only use that with a credit or debit card.  Meanwhile the banks can reap huge profits by investing it. 
And only large companies accept such cards. Small neighborhood stores and street vendors don’t.  So, for example, a small vegetable vendor lost his livelihood because potential customers were only left with one tenth of the cash they had before. Now they must use digital money to buy vegetables from a supermarket.
There are tens of millions more like this vendor.  Small farmers, too, along with millions of day-workers who are paid in cash, lost their livelihood.  Thousands have died waiting in those endless lines.  Others have killed themselves. 
The broad masses in India and everywhere need communist revolution to end the bosses’ deadly system of money and wage slavery. 

Money is the life blood of capitalism
Capitalism’s driving force is to maximize profits.  Money connects production and distribution. It is the means through which capitalists accumulate the surplus value they steal from workers’ labor.  Money in the form of credit enables them to expand their production and compete for market share. 
Demonetization changes only the form of money (from paper cash to electronic credit and debit cards) but not its place in society.  It is not a step to a world without money.
Communism will really be a society without money. 

The life blood of communism will be social relationships, not money
  There won’t be cash, credit cards, bit coins, or work points (as instituted in China under socialism). There will be no exchange, period. Nothing bought or sold. Everything will be produced for use, not sale. Workers, organized through our mass party, will produce and organize to meet the needs of everyone. 
Food, housing, transportation, healthcare, child care and learning will be collective responsibilities.  Massive collectives will determine the need and organize production and distribution. 

Wherever there’s money, there’s corruption
  The Indian government claims they needed demonetization to eliminate corruption and terrorism coming from Pakistan.  All that changes is whose hand gets into the till. 
Actually, all capitalists are terrorists and thieves.  Their profits come from stealing our surplus labor.  Their cops, armies and goon squads terrorize us into submission – and will continue to do this – until we organize communist revolution. 
Capitalist bosses are the biggest organized terrorists.  Modi and his fascist party came to power after organizing massacres of Muslims.  Since then they have organized violent attacks on Muslims, Dalits, and women workers.  Only communism can and will end this exploitation of the working class.
Modi represents the Indian capitalist class as it tries to expand amidst the global capitalist crisis of overproduction.  Five of the largest Indian multinationals are in huge debt as they desperately try to flood the market with cheap commodities.  Demonetization helps the banks reduce interest rates for them. 
Meanwhile the working class becomes more dependent on these multinationals for life’s necessities.  This is a leap towards monopoly capital at the expense of small owners and the working class.  It sharpens the world capitalist-imperialist rivalry.

We are one international working class and we are building one International Communist Workers’ Party. 
ICWP is organizing the international working class to seize power through a violent revolution and build a communist society. 
As capitalist crisis deepens, our numbers can grow.  Readership of Red Flag is growing in India and Pakistan and forty-eight other countries.  New and young comrades are grasping the need to organize the masses for communist workers’ power. 

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