FIGHT FOR COMMUNISM!
	International Communist Workers Party
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LETTERS, CRITICISM AND SUGGESTIONS

The Bolsheviks and Communist Education

I’m glad that the article about Soviet education (v. 7 #14) is opening a discussion about our plans for communist education.  This letter comments on one point.
The article said that “when the Bolsheviks took power, they had no firm plans for education. …So the Bolsheviks had to improvise.”  Actually, a leading Bolshevik, Nadezhda  Krupskaya, was trained as a teacher.  She joined Lenin’s underground Marxist circle while teaching industrial workers in an adult-education program in 1891-95. 
Along with other Bolshevik leaders, Krupskaya was driven into exile.  During those years she studied the educational theories of Russian, European and American writers.  She made a thorough investigation of educational practices (broadly defined) in Europe, the US, and Russia.  Her goal was to “establish as precisely as possible the Marxist position with regard to schooling.”
“The time will come,” Krupskaya wrote in 1910, “when it will be possible to set up the kind of school the rising generation needs. We will have to know how to set up such a school, and for that we need experience, and we need to work on it in advance in order to understand how to approach the task.”
By 1917 she had written over forty publications, mostly on education.  That included a book, Public Education and Democracy, completed shortly before the revolution.
So the Bolsheviks’ main problem with education policy wasn’t lack of planning.  Instead it was probably their general line.  They thought that a “democratic revolution” would have to precede socialism and that communism would come much later.   That’s why Krupskaya studied “education and democracy.” 
The mistaken general line explains why, once in power, the Bolsheviks tried to create communist education without creating a material basis for it in communist social relations of production.  In November 1921 their Central Committee declared that “the basic task of the communist party in the field of education during the New Economic Policy [even in NEP!] is the preservation of communist ideological influence in all educational work.”
We have a lot to learn from the best of communist educational practice in the 20th century (like the Gorky Colony).  But let’s understand that we can and must do a lot better.  Mobilizing directly for a communist society will allow us to create a real communist system of education. 
—California Comrade

Winning soldiers to focus their anger against the capitalist system

In Sinaloa, Mexico, at dawn on October 30, an armed confrontation was provoked between a group of alleged assassins and soldiers,
leaving 6 soldiers dead and another 10 injured. Official versions say that the children of Chapo ordered the attack.
After this confrontation and the death of the soldiers, in the social media you could read words of anger and frustration from soldiers and their families. They are demanding justice from the government.
The soldiers’ families have expressed their  fury at the situations that soldiers face when they see how their relatives die in this war against drugs.
These people in the army and their families must be won to focus their anger against the capitalist system, the cause of these evils. Only communism, with thousands of organized soldiers, can put an end to the war against drugs as well as drug addiction and the bosses who benefit from both.
 “I am locked up for something similar (a confrontation and killing of narco traffickers).  The senior officers are free and they will never do anything to them. There are many in prison who are unjustly blamed but we can’t do anything,” wrote a soldier.
In discussions with some of these people, I heard pessimism and resignation, I said that this is not normal, that we must dare to hope, question and organize. Some just kept silent, others said that they still don’t have enough strength and they hope that others have it or they’ll wait for divine justice.
A sailor friend said, “Sometimes pamphlets appear in the navy installations. I ask friends what they think of this. The sailors think that what the pamphlets say is true, but they are afraid to keep talking. They only mutter in the aisles about organization but nobody joins.”
Soldiers and their families around the world, these deaths are painful for us, just like the thousands of deaths of soldiers and workers all over the world. They will continue until we destroy this capitalist system and with it the bosses.
The capitalists are preparing for a third World War, in which millions of people will die. The soldiers are the future cannon fodder. It is urgent to continue sowing the seed in the hearts of the people. We must talk about Communism.
We must form and train our red army, as well as industrial workers, students and our whole international working class to begin our Communist society where every person will receive according to their needs and contribute according to their commitment and capacities. Join ICWP.
—Young Comrade from Mexico

To the Comrades of ICWP all over the world

This is a young lion from South Africa. Just a few words of encouragement. As young people that belong to the ICWP, sometimes we tend to lose our way, lose our focus. But do not worry. Do not despair. We can always get up and dust ourselves off and come back to the movement.
As we all know, communism will not happen tomorrow, not next week, not even next year. It will take some time for us to reach our goal, but for my fellow comrades, I just want to encourage you. Do not lose hope; do not lose focus. Stay true to what you believe in. We are true communists. Let us behave as such.
It’s good to be back, Comrades. I feel like I have a purpose again. And I know that with my strength and my powerfulness we can achieve a lot like we did last time at the conference.
I promise you, comrades, I will not stay away from you again. I will always be available to serve the ICWP. La Lutta continúa. The struggle continues. Red Salute, Comrades
—A young lion in South Africa 

Let’s Unite For Communism

Since it has become apparent that we are going to live under this capitalist system for a longer time than we expected, we need to build a strong Revolution to make the conditions good for our people and our coming generations. We have a responsibility to bring about necessary change in our Communities. We have to invest in our own people and our communities. That means fighting for communism and arming the masses with the science of change.
We have studied too many books; we all know the truth, and the truth will set us free. We have to implement now, we have to plant the seed... We have done too much talking; now is the period of implementation. It’s better to die for an idea that will live than for an idea that will die. This reflects to us that we are ready to fight until death.
All the systems in our communities have failed us, politics have failed us, religion has failed us, the economic system has failed us and the traditional systems have failed us too!
Simply because we failed to take control of them.
It is a collective responsibility to make sure things are right. We must take care of ourselves... Let’s change each other. Let’s fight and struggle for communism. Let’s share! We must unite!
—A Comrade in South Africa

Young Workers & Students Form New Party Collectice

A few weeks ago, a group of us youth met to form a new ICWP club. This club is made up of young workers and students who have been active in the party for several years. The creation of this club is part of our role as communists to be part of a collective.
In this meeting we discussed the article about drug addiction in the last Red Flag. After reading the article, we discussed the concept of drugs and whether there existed such a thing as recreational drugs, and if so, what would our communist position be about this. The majority supported the position that, yes, there are recreational drugs like, for example, marijuana. We talked about what its effects are, its pros and cons, how it would be produced, distributed and consumed.
But this topic not only led us to talk about drugs, but also about a whole process of organization of society. We talked about how different education, medicine, health, food, and our responsibilities will be in communism.
“Much will change. If we no longer produce for money, the research we do will be for the good of everyone,” commented a youth about the profits that the pharmaceutical companies generate in this pandemic of opiates.
This first meeting was inspiring for everyone. The discussion was very dynamic. All the youth participated, including some who had never talked in other meetings. This new youth club has begun with great enthusiasm and has great potential. We have a plan ready for study groups about the nationalist response to racism, about sports and sexism, and about activities in colleges.
We invite all the young people in the countries where our newspaper is read to share your experiences and give your ideas about how we can unify our work as young members of ICWP.
—Young Communists in Los Angeles 

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