FIGHT FOR COMMUNISM!
	International Communist Workers Party
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What Does It Mean to be a Party Member?

Red Flag keeps urging readers to “join the Party.” Some are doing just that!  But others want to know what it means to be a Party member.  Some of them distribute the paper, attend meetings and other events, and give money.
“You are doing everything a Party member does already so why not join?” we sometimes ask.
Maybe some wonder,   “If I’m already doing everything, why does it matter if I join?”
The recent article on the Russian Revolution (v. 6 #19) addresses this question, among other important ideas.  But it seems self-contradictory.  We need to understand this contradiction. 
The article accurately describes a 1903 fight between Mensheviks and Bolsheviks.  Mensheviks said anyone could be a Party member, even without doing Party work.  Bolsheviks said that Party members had to commit to carrying out decisions made collectively (“democratic centralism”) even when they disagreed. 
Sometimes this disagreement is characterized as a “mass” versus a “cadre” party.
The article states that ICWP is a “cadre” party: all members must carry out decisions.  But then it says that “building a communist world requires a mass party with…different levels of commitment and understanding.”  It stresses that members must be “open to struggle.”
It advocates “communist centralism.”  This is explained by saying that “masses will fight for communism to the extent they believe in it.”
This is surely true and important.  But to what “extent” must someone “believe in it” before becoming a Party member?  And what does that “belief” mean in action?
I don’t think “real commitment” is an all-or-nothing deal that “cadres” have and others don’t.  That idea leads some to think they can’t be members because “I can’t do everything you do,” as they say.  
It’s also wrong to describe commitment just quantitatively (greater or lesser extent).  That suggests that there’s no reason to “take the plunge” and join. 
The article talks about “millions of communist leaders who have different levels of commitment.” This comes closer to capturing the reality that “quantitative change can lead to qualitative change.”  It matters when we decide to rise to a new level of commitment, whether or not we’re members.
Party growth (like everything) contains contradictory aspects that are united in struggle.   The Bolshevik analysis saw unity in action as primary while secondarily recognizing the need for “much collective discussion” (internal political struggle). 
I think it’s the other way around.  The main thing the Party needs from its members is political struggle both internally and among the masses.  That means accepting some responsibility for the Party’s line and work.   Unity in action flows from that commitment.
So being “open to struggle” is the main thing we ask of Party members. As a member, you should belong to a collective that carries out Party decisions.  That helps you to develop greater understanding of communism, meaning deeper commitment to do what is needed, as best you can.
It also means struggling to help the Party make the best possible decisions to develop the line in practice. 
Masses of people can do this.  That’s why I think that the “mass versus cadre” party debate from Lenin’s time is outdated.  Today we are figuring out, bit by bit, how to build a party that is “mass” AND “cadre.”  That’s what communism will look like:  masses mobilized to make and carry out all decisions for society, organized as one International Communist Workers’ Party.
—LA comrade

A Proud New Comrade in South Africa Writes

I want to thank you for welcoming me into your organization.
I would love to be a member of ICWP because it is the kind of organization that is needed world wide . I believe it is every human being’s dream to be free and lead a healthy and normal life.
As a new member of the organization I promise I will talk about communism to anyone who is willing to listen. If need be, I will walk, drive, or fly anywhere to proclaim the ideas of ICWP.
To my fellow comrades, let us continue the struggle together as one. Let us work as a team to make sure that we achieve our goal: let us fight to build our communist society.
—Comrade XYZ

US Comrade Inspired by South African Masses

I’m a worker at MTA (Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority) and I came to South Africa to attend an international conference.
When we arrived in Port Elizabeth I saw the area where the white bourgeoisie and upper middle class live.  I liked the beauty of their houses, with lovely gardens and clean streets and parks. That same afternoon with some friends we went to the area where the black working class lives, to the township, heritage of Apartheid.
The contrast was impressive, incredible and insulting. The majority of the houses were half-destroyed, including those that were built after Mandela’s famous triumph. I asked several families if they were satisfied with them. The majority said no, because they were built with cheap materials that after a year start to fall apart.
These are some of the few families who received this “benefit,” because there are many waiting for the promised houses, a promise which for now has been forgotten. That’s why thousands and thousands of families live in shacks made of tin and cardboard, scraps of wood which must have been used for other things in the past. It’s hard to believe that humans can live in the shacks where the poorest families survive.
In one of these townships, where I stayed with Party comrades, I saw no cops anywhere. Nevertheless the neighborhood could compete with the safest places in the world. People were friendly and respectful—children, young and older people. The neighbors take care of each other and their few belongings. You can walk around at any hour of the day without being troubled.
The majority of the young people, as well as the women and the neighbors in general, are very political. Some students joined the Party as did some women. This sector of the working class seems to easily grasp the main ideas of the International Communist Workers’ Party (ICWP).
Also, in the different distributions of our newspaper and leaflets, I was able to observe workers in the factories accepting the paper with enthusiasm. The same thing happened in the university—an impressive response to ICWP’s ideas. We made many contacts and I’m sure that many of them will go to the international conference.
The potential for the party to grow is immense. We hope that this will inspire other workers to follow the example of the comrades of South Africa.
—Red Industrial Worker

Veteran Fighter—New Comrade

At the age of 14 years I was very active in politics and at that age I could just not sit back and observe what was happening in South Africa politically.  Politics were in my blood. Every day and night I was eating and sleeping politics. But by the age of 19 I had noticed that politics were so dirty! I saw that the mission of politicians is to fill their pockets and feed the nation with lies. At that age I had become so sick and tired of politics and the politicians because of their empty promises, not only nationally but internationally as well.
But when Mandela was released from prison, I thought that things were going to be better, and that’s when I voted for the African National Congress (ANC) hoping for the better life for all as they had promised. Since the 1994 elections I have observed the movements of the ANC. But through my observations I haven’t noticed any changes in the country, but I have seen them enriching themselves and not fulfilling the needs and wants of the poor. That’s when I started to lose faith in politics once again and I never voted again. You might ask why? I could not stand seeing all my fellow brothers and sisters going to bed with an empty stomach while others are homeless.
As I was now a non-political person, I was introduced to ICWP (International Communist Workers’ Party) and after being introduced to this party, I have felt an interest in ICWP. I have requested the Red Flag and during my spare time I have gone through the Red Flag and it has explained further about ICWP. I have now joined the ICWP. I haven’t joined for my personal benefit but to serve the interest of the needy people. I salute ICWP.
—A New Comrade

From the Ranks of the Bourgeois Army to the Communist Ranks of ICWP

I grew up in a family dedicated to agriculture in a town in El Salvador. When I was young I presented myself at the military
barracks to enlist but I didn’t qualify. When I was 22 years old, I was recruited and taken to the Recruits’ Training Center located in the western part of the country.
I did 16 months of military service:  four months in the Recruits’ Training Center, eleven in San Miguel and one in Monteca, a border area between El Salvador and Honduras.
When I volunteered to join the army it was because I wanted to be a soldier. It was not because I understood the situation of the war and why we had to fight. I knew that being a soldier I would have to fight, as when I was in Monteca, hearing rumors of conflict between El Salvador and Honduras.
I also remember one time when we were in formation, the captain said that if anybody was a guerrilla fighter they should step forward because, he explained, the guerrilla fighters were our enemies.
In 1977 I was discharged, returning to my family but keeping in mind that in case of war I had to report to the army. Two years after leaving the barracks I carried out paramilitary activities such as protecting the local commander.
How I Joined the Guerrillas
I had friends and relatives in the ranks of the guerrillas who came to my house and politicized me about the guerrilla struggle. They knew that I had served in the military and could be very useful. In 1980 the war intensified and I joined the guerrillas because I saw a lot of government injustice and repression against the working class.
That decision meant that the armed forces were looking for me to kill me. That’s how I became part of a camp where we carried out logistics activities and the gathering of supplies and food. In the guerrilla army I understood the motive of struggle. I well remember today that they told us that there were two opposing classes, the proletariat and the bourgeoisie.
How I See Things Today
The situation hasn’t changed very much.  The two classes still confront each other, and many years have passed since 1992 when they signed the Peace Accords. At that time, I felt satisfied when I saw that they were going to integrate us into civilian life. I continued to be on the left and stayed in the FMLN party, but I think that this party was absorbed by capitalism. Many ex-guerrilleros have this idea.
The principles of solidarity and humanism that we had in the war have disappeared and now they only see us as instruments for Election Day. I no longer participate in that farce, which only serves replace on capitalist boss with another.
How I Joined ICWP
Considering that the FMLN no longer responded to revolutionary principles, I met comrades in PLP. Our comrades now in ICWP were also in PLP then. I read the PLP newspaper and participated in meetings. Then I found out about the split. I knew and appreciated some of the motives for the formation of ICWP.  It had to do with the political line that we would carry out in building a communist system, since we’ve had enough of reforms and that’s not what we need.
I stayed with ICWP, the party in which I understand that I am carrying out a true struggle. In my house we meet as comrades and I have distributed Red Flag on May Day.
In the community where I live we are working to consolidate a party cell that will lead the working class to communism.
--Comrade in El Salvador

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