FIGHT FOR COMMUNISM!
International Communist Workers Party
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FIGHT FOR COMMUNISM! |
International Communist Workers Party | |
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Nothing remains the same in the universe or in society. There are universal laws of change that apply to both. The science and philosophy of change is dialectical materialism.
When masses of workers grasp dialectical materialism they will understand how to overthrow capitalism and build the communist society we desperately need.
Today we live in capitalism. A few bosses control factories, banks and natural resources. They profit from the labour of workers worldwide. Capitalists maintain this profit system with their military and racist police.
The most important way capitalists control the working class is ideological. Bosses spend enormous amounts of money to spread individualism, racism, sexism and other anti-communist ideas. They do this in their schools and in popular culture, including arts, fashion and sports. They need us to believe that capitalism will last forever.
Communism is the opposite of capitalism. In communism the working class will control and build production centers, communities and homes to meet our needs. Communism will eliminate money. Building on this new foundation, the masses will smash racism, sexism, nationalism and all other vestiges of capitalism.
Our vision of communism grows from thousands of years of class struggle. The most important historical changes took place when the working class and armed forces in Russia, organized by communists, smashed capitalism. An even bigger revolution led by the Chinese communists soon followed.
Read the International Communist Workers’ Party document Mobilize the Masses for Communism, available at (icwpredflag.org/MMC/MMCnewE.html) It explains that Soviet and Chinese communists did not believe that masses could be won to communism. Following Marx, they thought that some kind of capitalism controlled by a workers’ state was a necessary step toward communism. They called this socialism.
From these enormous revolutions, from their successes and failures, we can see the future more clearly. We reject the idea of building socialism. Practice has shown that it brings a new form of capitalism. We can win the masses to communist revolution.
Communism Today
We are winning masses to communism now. Over 7000 Red Flag newspapers have been downloaded in India. Comrades in South Africa are distributing thousands and they want more. They are studying dialectical materialism and putting it into practice (see pages 13 and 14). From Seattle to El Salvador, Red Flag builds confidence that we can win the masses to communism.
Comrades in Afghanistan are translating Mobilize the Masses for Communism into Dari. Comrades in India are translating it into four different languages.
Comrades in Nepal, Lebanon, Gaza, Turkey, Qatar, Indonesia and Spain are actively discussing communism. There are Red Flag readers in over forty countries. Workers worldwide are more alike than different. What we do in one area affects our work everywhere.
Dialectical materialism helps us understand uneven development. Our party can grow more quickly in some areas, like South Africa. In India, where masses are rejecting fascism with violent uprisings, we must win thousands to communism (see page 1).
Correct ideas come mainly from practice. Advancing our practice advances our revolutionary theory.
A communist strike against racist police killings, led by our forces in Los Angeles MTA (transit workers) could inspire many thousands around the world.
Rebellions against hunger led by comrades in South Africa, seizing and distributing food based on need, could galvanize workers internationally.
Comrades who are bringing communist ideas into the Dalit protests in India give us confidence that communism is advancing.
Our party can grow very rapidly in this period of deepening capitalist crisis. Comrades in South Africa are thinking big. The youth club meets several times a week. They reach out to the masses, they struggle relentlessly for communism. This confidence and this practice can be replicated around the world.
Whether you are a new reader of Red Flag or a “regular,” whether or not you are already a party member, you are part of a historic struggle. We need you to continue to read, distribute, criticize, question and write for Red Flag. We need whatever financial support you can give.
When communist ideas are grasped by the masses, they become a material force for communist revolution. A comrade in India summed this up: “Red Flag is not only a piece of paper. It is a symbol of the emancipation of the proletariat of the whole world. Thus we love Red Flag more than our lives.”
Fight for communism! We need you – tens of thousands of you–to join the ICWP.
The Study of Dialectics Helps Us Change Our Practice
LOS ANGELES, August 20—“Yes, I want to be a member of ICWP,” said a new comrade, during the conclusion of a recent communist Dialectical Materialism conference. A high school student and a teacher also joined the Party.
The conference was about the communist philosophy of contradictions and change. During the workshops, questions and suggestions emerged for changing our communist practice.
One discussion focused on the truth that to resolve the main contradiction in the world, the workers against the bosses, we need a communist revolution. To see this change, we ourselves must actively participate in building the Party. Three women workers agreed to participate in study groups to learn about communist ideas and practice. They want to know what communism really is.
Similar questions arose in another workshop led by three youth. The discussion showed that one of the keys to recruit new members to the party is to understand that internal contradictions are primary. To be able to recruit someone else, we have to understand their internal contradictions that hold them back.
Near the end of the meeting, a comrade explained the contradictions within a group of youth with whom he works politically. The collective saw as primary the internal ideological struggle with the members of the group, while the young comrade thought communist practice was primary. After the discussion, the young comrade agreed to sharpen this contradiction by struggling politically with his group.
What holds us back from recruiting more active members to ICWP?
“I used to think that if I just kept doing the same thing over and over, like distributing the paper, that qualitative change would happen. Thinking more dialectically, sometimes we have to change what we do,” said a comrade with a lot of experience. He asked the group to help him figure out what he should do differently to recruit a co-worker to the Party. Another participant who is a Red Flag reader asked, “What does it mean to be a member of the party?” After a lively discussion, he and another youth decided to join ICWP.
There was struggle for members and Red Flag readers to get more involved in producing and distributing the paper, and that each Party member must be in a collective.
Very importantly, several youth and adult women took leadership for the first time in such an event. Some of the workshops were led by young comrades who prepared through meetings to discuss dialectical materialism. There was uneven development during the conference, but both the youth and the adult women comrades began a process that is continuing, taking more communist leadership in the Party.
Thinking about Qualitative Change After the Conference
“How do we convince workers of the importance of dialectical materialism?” asked an MTA worker. His plan is to begin study groups about dialectics with co-workers, and to discuss and sharpen the contradictions of nationalism and racism within the working class.
For years we have distributed over 200 Red Flags each edition at an LA garment factory. But we haven’t yet won workers from there to participate in our activities. Dialectically, today we see the need to write articles or leaflets about particular questions and problems relating to these workers. We will look for ways to have a more direct dialogue with them. The qualitative change isn’t just to keep going to the factory, but to constantly seek new ways to get the workers involved with communist ideas.
