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POLTICAL STRUGGLE IS THE LIFEBLOOD OF THE PARTY

Suggestions for New Guidelines for Red Flag

It's exciting writing for Red Flag. No one has ever produced a paper arguing directly for communism. We are breaking new ground, developing new guidelines and we are not afraid of confronting mistakes. That's good because not all our attempts succeed and, for me, the editorial page in the last issue was confusing.
It started with the drought in California, went many places, and ended up with the strange formulation that "Communism is thinking for yourself but acting for others..." The image of a world where “thought” and “action,” “self” and “others” are at odds with each other is an image the alienated world of capitalist production creates. Under capitalism “our” labor (through which we survive) is controlled by “others” (the bosses who employ us). I think it's more accurate to say we want the communist revolution to smash this crazy, alienated way of living. About a hundred years ago the communist psychologist, Vygotsky, came up with a more powerful observation. "We become ourselves," he said, "through others." Fortunately, the box alongside the article produced a healthier more revolutionary image. Reacting to severe water short-ages in their area in the 1970s, local communists mobilized their communities and voluntarily constructed breath-taking new irrigation systems. "We become ourselves through others" could well be the title of that picture,
But better yet, the text alongside the picture points out how elements of the “Communist” Party attacked these workers and undermined them. This points to a weakness our speculations (and these speculations are useful) about a future communist world often produce. They present an a-historical world where all the problems of capitalism have been solved, not with a magic wand but with a communist revolution. Here in this real, historical, world communists fight communists. “The Red Flag is waved against the Red Flag.” In short, political struggle is as dominant a feature of a post-revolutionary world as it is of a pre-revolutionary world.
Speculation and imagination about the future is a vital component but the fight for communism is also rooted in the actions and mobilizations we call for today. "We call communism," Marx and Engels used to say, "the real movement which abolishes the present state of things."
So here's my suggestion for some guidelines:
1) Write! Follow the example of our comrades in South Africa. The fingers that can make a fist can type a text!
2) Don't be afraid of mistakes. Only comrades will “correct” them (and they in turn will be “corrected” by other comrades). "We become ourselves through others!"
3) Try not to “visit” too many places in one article.
4) The fight for communism has a past as well as a future!
5) Communist ideas are needed now, today. They are always the leading edge of struggle.
A comrade

Think for Yourself, but Act for Others

In the most recent issue of Red Flag, there was a statement in the editorial which I questioned. The last paragraph of the editorial on page 2 said “Communism is built on thinking for yourself but acting for others.”
Although the “acting for others” part made perfect sense to me, the “thinking for yourself” statement confused me.
I mentioned this to a couple of comrades and we discussed what that might mean. When I read the phrase, to me it meant “I know just as well as anyone else what is right in any given situation.” I thought of my father, who believed that each person had some special knowledge which did not come from his/her life experiences, but somehow was inherent to that person (inner voice). To me, this is a very idealist way of thinking. As communists, we believe that our ideas are rooted in the material world - including what we read, experience and discuss with others. Because we have different backgrounds and experiences, our ideas may differ widely. But what we are looking for are the ideas that most closely align with material reality. In this way we can analyze and move forward to change the world to be run by and to benefit the working class.
However, the comrades I discussed this with thought that “thinking for yourself” actually meant to be sure to put forward your ideas in discussions, meetings, etc. We look at the political work we have done, analyze it, talk about mistakes and successes, struggle with each other to do more, and then analyze it again. Our understanding depends not only on theory, but on putting it into practice and constantly changing what we do to better our work.
Then, once all opinions have been heard, discussed and struggled around, we can formulate a plan of action and improve our communist theory. We follow this to the best of our ability to be able to see if it is correct. This makes sense to me.
 They suggested I write this letter, as others might have had the same question about this phrase that I had. I hope this helps!
Comrade in Seattle

Talking with Friends about the Fight for Communism

During the last three months, the work has been focused on discussing and analyzing with some friends about the social, political and economic problems afflicting us as a society and fundamentally about the political ideology of our Party (ICWP). That is, about mobilizing the masses for communist revolution, to abolish capitalism (its base and essence of exploitation) and with it class society.
Although this task is not easy, I must admit, it enriches the conviction that we must prepare to face the ideological struggle. Some questions arise.  For example, a friend asked, “Will we all be equal in communism?”
In this sense it is argued that “equality” is an abstract term and, therefore, subjective. In communism, we will all receive according to our needs and contribute according to our abilities. There will be no division of labor—manual and mental. It will be fundamental to develop this in practice, as Comrade Mao Zedong suggested in his time. In these terms we will be equal.
Is communism a dictatorship? An interesting and complicated question. Dictatorship in class society is the position of a political class over the working class, where a government impos-
es its authority, like US imperialism.
The dictatorship in communism, therefore, must be only of the proletariat in order to bury the bourgeois state. This dictatorship should be abolished once capitalism has been destroyed. We should understand that at the beginning, in the fight for communism, it would be this way - to deal with the reactionary capitalist current.
Finally I must point out the importance of the political doctrine of our party, which is develop-
ed as our understanding advances, a task that has not been easy since we began this struggle. However Comrades, we must spread the ideas, and grow in number to carry out a communist revolution, because surely thousands of people—and also readers of Red Flag—in the world are already aware that we live in forced poverty, a legalized slavery.
The members of the International Communist Workers’ Party make a call to unite; let’s organize within the ICWP, let’s defeat capitalist tyranny with communist revolution.

Comrade in Mexico

ICWP:  Political Home of Workers Worldwide

Greetings comrades!

Reading the Red Flag does wonders.  It both refreshes and soothes the minds. The consistency with which the political line is carried throughout the articles is gratifying for want of a better word. The RF doesn't beat about the bush, it doesn't mince the words. I found this to be unique and very impressive.
The death of seventy-two workers killed by fire while locked up in a Philippine shoe factory is put square on the bosses’ system. It doesn't call for useless commissions of inquiries to find the truth.
In the next article, I like the assertion that is made, “There are no good capitalist masters.” It exposes the bankruptcy of reformist parties and the lies they are peddling to please their masters at the expense of the workers and the poor.
Indeed, there are many labour and political groups that are militant but reformist all over the world. The Red Flag doesn't stoop to their level of attaching labels instead of dealing with the content. ICWP is the political home of the working class of the world.

Comrade in South Africa


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