Los Angeles, USA-On March 9, we had a forum with a couple of dozen people about communist education. The forum was presented by three comrades of ICWP. The first topic was presented by a teacher comrade. It was about the lessons of the recent teachers’ strikes nationwide.
The second topic was presented by a comrade who explained how capitalist education is designed to promote nationalism, patriotism and serve the interests of the capitalist class.
I presented the third topic, Communist Education. To prepare, I started at home by asking my daughter, who is in college, to read me the main article of the ICWP pamphlet on Communist Education. She didn’t understand some terms and this gave me the opportunity to explain and make her think about those ideas.
I am an industrial worker, an ex-garment worker. It was suggested that I make this presentation. My experience should serve to inspire other men and women workers that anyone with a little reading, experience and practice in speaking, can convey the importance of organizing for a communist revolution.
I was a little nervous about not knowing all the answers, but with the questions I asked and a bit of humor, I felt confident to be able to develop the topic.
The answers to questions about who knew how to do what made me think that in case of war we will not survive individually, since some knew about construction, others about growing plants and others about first aid. But it is obvious that as a collective we are able to survive and in our hands and minds is the experience and knowledge to create that new communist society that we need so much.
The communist relations that we practice today among the members and our base are what we want millions of workers to practice. These are relationships that will be implemented before, during and after the revolution and taking power. Relations without sexism, racism, nationalism or exploitation.
Education in a communist society will be to create new communists and a classless society. We will share everything-even what we know. Capitalist schools use skills and information as commodities and reproduce master and slave relationships. Communist education–like production and communist relations—will be completely different.
And as the pamphlet says: “These relationships will provide the material experience that can be the basis of how to make all other decisions.”
For a classless society, without wage slavery and without borders, let’s fight for a communist world.
—Los Angeles comrade
Garment Worker Wants to Know
“My son questions everything under this system: why we have to pay rent, why we have to pay so much for medicine, dental care, and for everything else we need to live.” Those were the words of a garment worker who came to a recent ICWP forum about how education will be in a communist society.
“I didn’t know what to answer,” concluded the worker.
This worker has been to a May Day dinner and I’ve had the opportunity to talk to him a little bit about communism. He has also taken Red Flag before. Five more workers, friends and family of his, also came to the forum. For all of them it was the first time coming to something like this. Though I’ve invited them before they were always resistant. Although most of them didn’t speak during the meeting, they were happy they came because they learned new ideas.
I hope that this is just a beginning for them. Millions of parents deal with similar situations, trying to explain to their families why the capitalist profit system is deadly for the working class. ICWP has a big responsibility in educating the working class about how to fight, destroy and replace capitalism with a new communist society. ICWP forums are a good way to bring communist ideas to workers. We be persistent in inviting friends and family to participate in similar events. I think all workers, especially young workers, are getting ever more frustrated and angry at the capitalist system. Let’s turn this anger into a communist revolution.
—Red Worker
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