Red Flag Newspaper
International Communist Workers Party
|
|
Red Flag NewspaperInternational Communist Workers Party |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
| |
SEATTLE, USA, Nov.15 —“Do you think this is right?” asked a Boeing machinist, pointing to a big front-page picture of the student walkout in the Seattle Times. Five thousand students had left classes a couple of days before to protest the racism, sexism and anti-immigrant stance of Trump.
“I think it’s great!” I answered.
“But will it stop Trump from becoming president?” she asked.
We had been talking about the election for weeks. She’s an immigrant and had a lot of questions about the U.S. political system. For the first time, she’s had serious doubts about bosses’ “freedom and elections.”
“No,” I had to admit, “but it can lead to something even better.”
The views in this Boeing plant about the walkouts fall roughly into three categories. The right-wing (and sometimes fascist) bellowing about how the teachers ought to be thrown in jail. This nonsense ignores the fact that the students are leading the way, expertly and creatively organizing the demonstrations themselves.
A much larger number welcome the demonstrations with pride and enthusiasm for the brave students. The walkouts have helped defeat some hesitancy to struggle among our friends who know better than to just accept elections. In addition, comrades have broadened and sharpened our discussions about joining the party to mobilize for the only solution — communism.
My machinist friend represents the third group in the center. This may very well be the biggest group.
We began to discuss what kind of education she wanted her children and other youth to have. Did we want schools where you sit passively in classrooms? Where your “success” depends on absorbing and parroting patriotic and “think-of-yourself-first” ideology? Or do we want communist education where mobilizing for the good of all will be part of the day-to-day curriculum?
She works a lot of overtime to help her daughter pay for her education at the University of Washington. She always complains how expensive it is, but is not willing to reject all capitalist education after such sacrifice. Now she has something more to think about. It was the first time I ever raised communism with her. We must be bolder with this vast center group.
Another friend read a short post on the ICWP blog about the HS walkout. “I love it!” he shouted.
“You know what really pisses me off?” a comrade responded. “When Obama and Clinton and our boss say we have to stop fighting about the election for the sake of the nation.”
“Bullshit!” was his definitive response.
By the end of the day, I began to say that not only were the students’ walkouts great, but that we should walkout also. I was encouraged by consistent discussions like those above (and, frankly, how my friends were willing to confront the most reactionary Trump supporters).
Talk about our walkout brought up a question similar to the one raised by the woman machinist. If we walkout, even for communism, will it bring it about?
The answer, like the answer to whether walkouts will stop the Trump presidency, is “No!”
But it too can lead to something better. A communist walkout will inspire many thousands. If the party does its work right, masses will be discussing communist solutions. The party will grow.
Even a walkout focused on the more open racism, sexism and xenophobia Trump has unleashed will open many more opportunities to present communist solutions.
We are a long way from a walkout at work. Workers understand the stakes are even greater than when students walk out. Nonetheless, these heated debates about political strikes have resulted in increased circulation of Red Flag and our leaflet entitled “Communism Means No More Trumps.” It never hurts when more workers are talking about what communism has to offer.
ICWP is building a new Red Army.
There are comrades who are military
veterans, on active duty, and youth
ready to enlist in the bosses' armed
forces.
We have learned from the advances
and errors of the Red Armies during
the Russian and Chinese Revolutions.
Building an army and a society
which operate on political rather than
material incentives will guarantee the
final victory of communism.
SOUTH AFRICA, Nov. 21 – The President of the Republic announced a new minimum wage of 3,500 rand (US $242) a month. This is a totally ridiculous amount. No human being can survive on such a low wage. It’s only enough for a little food and to take the bus to go to work and then the money is gone. It’s less than the average rent for a 1-bedroom apartment outside of Port Elizabeth.
This goes to show that under capitalism, workers will never succeed. Workers will be shackled to capitalism by wages.
This is a total betrayal of the working class by the capitalist bosses. It provides us as an organization with the opportunity to go to the masses. They are angrier now than they have been against their union, COSATU, and against the African National Congress-led government.
We are in a strategic position to explain to the masses what wages do, how wages contribute to the subjugation of the working class. We need to explain to the masses in language they can understand that wages will never improve their lives. Instead, wages will always be chains that bind the working class to the capitalists. Whoever tells them otherwise is either delusional or is misleading them.
This is the message that we need to take to the masses. This is one example that has been happening to the working class worldwide. The attacks on the working class are tremendous here in South Africa, in the US, and in other parts of the world.
We need to be proactive as a party in getting our message across to the masses, into the working class, about why wages will never better the lives of the working class. The lives of the working class won’t get better until the working class seizes power with communist revolution.
We can and will seize control of the means of production, not to produce for wages but to produce the things all workers need based on their commitment. It won’t be based on intolerable hours of work whereby people have little time to spend with their families. The time they have now they spend in the factories working for almost nothing.
The youth collective here in South Africa needs to be in the forefront in getting our communist message across. We need to wage an ideological struggle against the idea that wages will better the lives of the working class. We need to be proactive; we don’t need to wait.
LOS ANGELES, USA, Nov. 20— “Me (X) and other MTA workers had a meeting last Thursday. It consisted of new members with great topics. We discussed the reason why communism is important and the future of communism instead of socialism. Another comrade and I led the meeting. We discussed that the working class must join together and become communist to guide our future. We will be meeting again next Thursday to discuss and study together; also we are going to invite more guests to support Red Flag.”
The meeting included a multi-racial group of workers led by a black comrade. He explained why workers need the International Communist Workers’ Party (ICWP) and our newspaper Red Flag. Everyone actively participated. Even though we don’t have the same level of political understanding, we all agreed that the only answer is communist revolution. Some of the comments during the meeting were:
“Skin color doesn’t matter. We are workers and as a class we have to fight together,” said L. He continued, “Many white workers who voted for Trump have been fooled about the conditions that cause the crisis. The capitalist system consciously promotes these lies. I would like a society without borders where every human being can receive what they need to live.”
B said, “I talked with some friends and told them that if we all pooled our money, like a cooperative, and bought cars to sell, we could get out of poverty.”
X replied, “That doesn’t work because we could be 5, 10, or 20, but that does not solve the problem of the working class. The party talks about organizing the majority because that would be the only way to change the capitalist system which is the cause of all the evils.”
W said emphatically, “These attacks are not isolated. They are the product of a capitalist system in crisis, which always resorts to fascism when their system falters. The answer must be to make a communist revolution led by workers, soldiers and students.”
H mentioned, “ICWP has contacts with workers in other countries and it is very important to write about the process of organization and the ideological struggle that we are developing. We need to read about and discuss the experiences of other workers.”
The comrade who led the meeting talked about the urgency of inviting more co-workers to the next meeting. We made a plan to do that. We concluded the meeting reminding those present that in this society there exists no other force as powerful the working class organized in its communist party.
