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Don’t Vote! Mobillize The Masses For Communism

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Are you guys for Sanders?” asked an MTA bus operator of a Red Flag distributor.
“No. Some of his supporters want things that we want, but they won’t get them by supporting him. We don’t support any politician. We need a different system.” 
“I agree,” he said thoughtfully.
Facing deepening economic crisis, masses of workers and youth everywhere are angry at capitalism. They are looking for radical alternatives. Many are attracted to the socialist electoral alternative of Sanders in the US, Podemos in Spain, Malema in South Africa, etc. Neither socialism nor elections, however, are the solution. Communism, with production only for need is the only solution.
Many want change. The idea of “socialism” interests them. They hate capitalist inequality. But, socialism is capitalism in a different wrapping. It  keeps money, the wage system and production for the market. It will not end capitalism’s need for racism or the competition that leads to wars. 
The change these candidates promise ranges from the open racism and fascism of Trump in the US or Le Pen in France to the vague socialism of Bernie Sanders or Malema in South Africa. Their “Change” will leave intact capitalism’s exploitation, racism and wage slavery. Elections even with “socialists” like Sanders are no thereat to capitalism. 
Elections are capitalism’s lifesavers. They allow the capitalists to work out their differences without having to resort to civil war. Most importantly they cover the brutal, violent nature of the capitalist class dictatorship over the working class (see page 13). The rulers want us to think that voting gives us a “say” in administering their system and that we can reform it to meet our needs.
 However, this is impossible. Let’s not be fooled by the smoke and mirrors of the bosses’ electoral deception. It will take armed revolutionary violence to take power from the hand full of capitalists who own the means of production in every country. This and building communism will require an ICWP and Red Army of millions of industrial workers, soldiers and youth.

Sanders says, “Tax the Rich.”  We say “Ax the rich. Abolish money and classes.”
Capitalist inequality is built into its wage slavery – to survive we must sell our labor power to the capitalists for a wage. They are the masters; we are the slaves. Taxing the rich can never end this inequality nor the anti-communism, racism, sexism and other anti-working class ideologies it thrives on.
The dominant wing of US rulers needs to force some US capitalists to contribute more to prepare for war against rising China, Russia and Iran. During World War II, the wealthy paid 92% of their income in taxes to support the war effort. Today the wealthy only pay between 17% and 22% of their income in taxes.
For workers they have cut backs and higher taxes. “Tax the rich’ is also to fool us into believing that we are “all in this together” to win us to sacrifice blood and treasure to defend their empire. 
The single-payer healthcare system is another of Sanders’ proposals to win us to passively accept their growing attacks on our class and fight and die for their profits. It exists in many European countries and sounds “fairer” but would still be minimal, rationed racist care.
Capitalism cannot provide us the healthcare and healthy productive lives we need. US capitalists want to win our loyalty pretending they care for the 50 million people without healthcare here. But, we can win many to see that only communism can provide the healthcare we need.

The vital mass mobilization for communism stands in sharp contrast to the bosses’ election charade
In communism, with no bosses or banks, masses of workers will collectively run the world. Our main task will be to produce more communists by deepening and expanding our communist production and social relations. We will discuss, plan, produce and distribute the fruits of our labor according to need while treating each other with respect, dignity, appreciation and love.
We do not and will not choose communist leaders through periodic elections. Fighting for and building communism will require millions of communist leaders. These will voluntarily and energetically surge from those activists most committed to the working class. They will do and encourage others to do what needs to be done to build a mass ICWP which mobilizes the masses for communism now, during and after revolution.
We must constantly add more comrades to leadership collectives to develop more communist leaders and collectives that will continuously do the same. Our goal is to make everyone a communist leader.  This will guarantee communism’s triumph worldwide and make it irreversible.
ICWP invites all workers, soldiers and youth who want a world without capitalist inequality and greed to join us to mobilize for a communist world where the communist masses determine our future and guarantee our needs collectively.

Like Hillary Clinton, Sanders supported Bill Clinton’s bombing in Kosovo in 1999, which killed hundreds and displaced hundreds of thousands. He voted for authorizing funds for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and for a $1 billion aid package for the coup government in the Ukraine. He supported Israel’s assault on Gaza.
Sanders voted for the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (1994) and the Omnibus Crime Bill of 1994, a hallmark of Bill Clinton’s “tough on crime” agenda. It called for expanding the application of the death penalty on many more crimes, including large-scale drug trafficking. It also included a federal version of the “three strikes law,” requiring a mandatory life sentence for anyone convicted of a third “serious” crime.
Now both Sanders and Clinton say they are against such mass racist incarceration because the rulers need to win workers and youths’ loyalty for war. They need to build a bigger, patriotic military.
Communism will eliminate police and jails. Eliminating money, we will eliminate the material basis for crime. Communism will eliminate competition and wars for profit. The masses will mobilize to deal with anti-social behavior collectively.

 

March on May Day with the International Communist Workers’ Party
Sunday, May 1, 2016

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