Red Flag Letters

Red Flag aspires to be a newspaper of a new type for a party, dedicated to mobilizing the masses around the world for communism. We’re breaking new ground and learning as we go. We will inevitably make mistakes—and disagree about what the mistakes are that we’re making. The letters page is a good place for comrades to engage in criticism and self-criticism, and help us learn to write in a way that will advance the work. We ask writers to be brief, and to criticize in ways that are sharp, but comradely. Collectively we have a lot to learn.

LETTERS, CRITICISM AND SUGGESTIONS

Jobs, No! Occupy the Factories for Communism, Yes!

The world economy is slowing down. Mainstream analysts predict a slump or worse within a year or two. A strategist at a major European bank, Société Generale, warned, “The financial crisis will reawaken. It will be every bit as bad as in 2008-09 and it will turn very ugly indeed.”
The moment the crisis breaks out millions will lose “their” jobs. But these jobs are not ours! Why does our work end up being owned by the few, the capitalists? Who needs private ownership of anything? Today 62 billionaires own more wealth than 50% of the world’s population. Who benefits from “private ownership of property?” Not us, the masses!
As crisis looms, fascist, nationalist and socialist movements call for jobs—government jobs, part-time jobs, citizens-only jobs. The call for jobs looks backwards at the wage-slavery of the past, rather than forward to the communist world we need. We must call for “Jobs, No! Occupy the Factories for Communism, Yes!”
The JOBS demand leaves the capitalist in command. We have to apply for the job and if we get it we have to comply with it. And if it no longer enriches the capitalist, we will be out of it. The JOBS demand keeps us as pawns in their game.
“Occupy the Factories for Communism!” puts us on the offensive, creating things we need. At the height of the May 1968 worker-student uprising in France, for example, printers took over the daily newspapers, making sure the stories supported and did not undercut the uprising. Occupying the factories enriches the strategy of a political strike for communism. It makes mobilizing the masses for communism a concrete daily task.
—Veteran red

The articles and support letters about the Mexican teachers’ strike were inspiring. They gave us an opportunity to present a concise explanation of what exactly is communist education.
I noticed the advertisement for the communist education pamphlet, but I think we should have included something like the following:
“Communist education teaches communism, not capitalism. It is based, like communism itself, on mutual aid rather than competition. Students learn collectively under the guidance of teachers. No one fails.
The same applies to teachers: they will collectively work to make sure everyone learns. There will be criticism and self-criticism but no ranking and certainly no firings or layoffs.
Communist learning is based on doing. Work (productive labor) is integrated with studying at all levels and continues throughout everyone’s lifetime. Traditional lectures and classrooms will be secondary. Most learning will be in laboratories and workshops for group projects.
There will be exercises and competency tests (e.g. for driving or cooking or performing surgery) but no exams, grades or degrees. There will be no prizes, awards, or medals for doing well, nor shaming for having problems.
Actions will still have consequences. For example, someone whose behavior is disruptive may have to leave the lab. But there will be no pure punishments (and no rewards).
Communist education will abolish all forms of segregation, including by race, sex and age. It will also blur (but not completely erase) distinctions that capitalism makes very sharp. In particular, there will be no rigid distinction between ‘teacher’ and ‘student’. Some people who are dedicated to teaching will be given formal training. But they will not have a monopoly on teaching. Students will also do some teaching as will workers.
Communist education will prepare students to be workers in a communist society where everybody helps everybody and everybody learns from everybody.”
—Canadian Teacher

We made a mistake with the front page headline in the last issue. It called for “Political strikes against racist cop terror and for communism,” This might lead readers to see those as two separate stages in a process. That’s what some of us used to think when we were immersed in reformist politics. The ICWP doesn’t call for ending racist cop terror now and fighting for communism later. We know that the only way to end racist cop terror and all the other forms of racism is to put an end to capitalist wage slavery—which needs racism and terror to survive.
The headline should have read, “Political Strike! End Racist Cop Terror by Mobilizing Masses for Communism!” We should all put this into practice.
—Red Flag collective

The chilly wet weather did not dampen our spirits today. The young lions were roaring at the 95th anniversary of the South African Communist Party (SACP). We were the only ones who brought something to read. Almost everybody at this event clutched a copy of the Red Flag. (See photo above.) No other reading material was on display.
The Red Flag made its way filling up the hall up to the podium where the misleaders were seated. We also spent time doing walk-abouts in the vicinity and enjoyed some good chats with other comrades.
There was also a very young comrade from Despache, an area near Uitenhage. He shared some very interesting stories about his experiences of distributing Red Flag, which were similar to those of the comrades in a Boeing factory in the US. He used his own money to come and mobilize in Port Elizabeth, which is encouraging: the act of sacrifice and dedication.
I am writing this report out of excitement. You will surely get sober reports from other comrades. I am just ecstatic.
--Comrade in South Africa

I am a comrade from South Africa. I am writing to confirm that we South African comrades are very grateful for every effort that you have made in order to make it possible for us to mobilize in order to win against the capitalist system. Comrades, please be aware that we appreciate every contribution you make for our revolution to go forward.
Comrades, we will not relax our efforts until we win against the capitalist system. The resources that you comrades are making available to us are being put to good use.
We have had enough of the bosses’ system. Comrades, this is our time to win our revolution. We have been used by the bosses’ system for quite a long time. Now we have reached the point whereby we are saying “enough is enough.” We need to show the bosses’ system that we are not going to take it any longer.
I am a member of ICWP. Just before I became a member of this party, I was a member of the ANC. I used to exploit the rights of the working class, thinking that it was the right thing to do. But then I realized and acknowledged that there is no transparency within the party. I decided the leave the ANC. Then I joined ICWP.
—A Comrade in South Africa

Reducing the vision of reality to two opposing principles, especially good and evil, is called Manichaeism. Dialectics is the opposite of Manichaeism.
We have a better understanding of communism, because we fight based on the successes and mistakes of the Communists who preceded us. We take pride in their achievements and do not intend to belittle them when we recognize their mistakes and weaknesses.
Sometimes we express their performance badly. Did those communists overthrow the capitalists in Russia and China? Yes, but they advocated "overthrowing the Tsar" and a democratic revolution in Russia and something similar in China.
Second, they mechanically resolved the question of the gradualness of the revolution. They learned from Marx that it is only ONE revolution with obstacles and retreats, which, however, should not be "interrupted."
Every process is both gradual and has leaps. Russian Communists claimed that their revolution was communist. What Russians call socialism, Marx called the first, or lower, phase of communism.
Through objective obstacles but mainly through political mistakes, they negatively resolved the gradualness of development, although they courageously promoted "skipping stages.” After the overthrow of czarism in February 1917, Lenin proposed in April moving from the democratic stage of the revolution to the socialist stage. However, Lenin himself declared in 1918 that the nationalization of land and other measures taken by his government could not be considered as "communist".
Neither in Russia nor in China were they able to end wage labor. The State paid wages "according to work" as Marx planned and it was decreed that the "lower phase of communism" would cover "a whole historical epoch." condemning workers to remain wage slaves.
If they were not Communists, we would not have to admire their achievements, nor would they be our point of reference. We would not consider ourselves "standing on their shoulders." They believed they were making their best effort for the working class. They followed Marx’s belief that communism could not start with the distribution of "to each according to their need" or that commodity exchange would be eliminated immediately after the capitalists were overthrown and the means of production expropriated.
Great communist leaders ultimately became their opposite. But to think that their story was all evil would be Manichaeism. We want to be dialectical. In Red Flag we make an effort to unravel the path towards the emancipation of humanity.
—A comrade in Mexico

FIGHT FOR COMMUNISM!

International Communist Workers Party

Letters to Red Flag

	FIGHT FOR COMMUNISM!
	International Communist Workers Party


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