FIGHT FOR COMMUNISM!
	International Communist Workers Party
icwp@anonymousspeech.com

Two international phenomena are changing the face of world affairs. Foreign Affairs says they have left “Washington’s foreign policy elites … disoriented.” We workers need not be. If we are clear, we can take advantage of the opportunities.
One is the increasing popularity of socialism.  A Newsweek cover says “We Are All Socialists.” In the US, polls show that those younger than 35 overwhelmingly favor socialism over capitalism. Rallies for presidential candidate Sanders, a democratic socialist, regularly attract 25,000. This in a campaign that is supposedly already lost.
On the other hand, countries led by self-proclaimed socialists are in trouble. Masses are in the streets in Brazil, France and South Africa. Miners in South Africa and dockworkers in France have fought pitched battles against the armed might of the state.
On the face of it, these two trends seem contradictory. In essence, they are not. Both are reactions to the global crisis of overproduction that started in 2008.
Capitalism’s internal contradictions between the working class and the bosses are moving millions. Socialist-led countries are in fact capitalist countries mired in the global capitalist crisis.
Masses of workers can’t live like before. Millions are looking for radical alternatives.  From South Africa to the US and elsewhere, our comrades find thousands open to the argument that only communism can satisfy all our class needs.
Here and there, we have brought this argument to industrial worksites, but not nearly enough. We have to seize the opportunity wherever we have political work.
Our South African ICWP comrades are having tremendous success at this. They are at the forefront of acting on our guiding principle: Mobilize the Masses for Communism.
Younger comrades have quickly come forward with urgency and commitment.  They are giving leadership to growing numbers of workers and youth eager to mobilize for communism.
Our comrades are seizing the opportunity to mobilize directly for communism presented by the racist conditions that South African workers face, the masses’ past experiences of fighting apartheid, and their betrayal by the African National Congress.
The masses’ positive response shows that workers can be inspired by the possibility of a communist society organized to produce collectively, solely to meet the needs of the masses without money, bosses or exploitation. They can visualize that only communism will abolish social classes, racism, sexism, borders and imperialist wars.
Comrades and friends worldwide can learn from this great example of how to build ICWP into a mass party. It should inspire us to increase our commitment to a lifelong struggle for communism.
This development, however, has sparked some controversy. Where the growth of the Party is slower or more modest, some ask, “What is the difference between South Africa and us?”
A US West Coast Party leadership meeting discussed this question.  We concluded that we face conditions and opportunities that are more similar than different.  The similarities are primary although the differences shouldn’t be ignored.(See the letters on page 15 reflecting these discussions.)
Objectively speaking, the masses worldwide are being attacked by capitalism’s deepening crisis and its sharpening inter-imperialist rivalry and expanding wars.
There is greater potential to grow everywhere, if we boldly present the fight for communism as the only solution for the masses.  Workers in South Africa, India, El Salvador, the US and everywhere are class brothers and sisters with the same need: to mobilize for communism.

Political Commitment Comes From Deeper Understanding
The comrades in South Africa have organized discussions about dialectical materialism, the science of revolutionary change. Dialectical and historical materialism explain why the triumph of the working class and the destruction of capitalism-imperialism are inevitable – but not automatic.  They depend on what we do.
We must sharpen the struggle between capitalist ideas and practice and communist ideas and practice, to strengthen the communist side in ourselves and our friends. The internal contradictions in the working class and the Party determine the outcome of the struggle, not the bosses’ attacks and lies.
Comrades and readers in every area can organize regular discussions about dialectical materialism.  We can figure out collectively the main things holding us back and struggle to overcome them, whether nationalism, racism, sexism, reformist illusions or religion.
We must collectively envision how communist society will work, developing and expanding communist relations. We must encourage more comrades and friends to take responsibility for ICWP, including helping to produce, write for, criticize and distribute Red Flag and support it financially.
Our ancestors lived in pre-class communism. Today we must bring to the angry masses the solution to the bosses’ crisis, growing fascism, and war preparations:  scientific communism.   We have no time to lose.  We have a world to win.

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