April 22—The March for Science on Earth Day attracted hundreds of thousands of people worldwide.
They marched in over 600 cities worldwide, from Washington DC, USA (40,000 marched), to Sydney, Australia.
Comrades of the International Communist Workers’ Party (ICWP) distributed hundreds of copies of Red Flag in the Los Angeles and San Diego (USA) marches. They showed marchers an article that said, “Communism will remove the chains placed on science in the service of profits. … It will unleash the imagination and creative potential of billions.”
Comrades had interesting talks with many about capitalist and communist science.
A young man who took Red Flag asked how communism would guarantee that science was used to serve the masses.
A comrade described how the Chinese communists mobilized masses to get rid of parasitic worms that were killing masses of people in China. She continued, “Communism will be better. Masses of people can work on finding cures for cancer, produce clean energy and guarantee clean water for everyone in the world. The masses have the potential to solve all of these problems and many more when we eliminate profits and competition. The goal of society will be the well-being of the masses.”
“But how do you know the leaders won’t betray the goal?” he asked.
“We will eliminate money, the material basis of corruption. There will be millions of leaders leading millions more—not one leader or a small group planning everything. Science and politics will become the property of the masses. They will mobilize for and guarantee a communist society that meets the needs of everyone.”
“It really does sound exciting,” he said.
Most marchers wanted to defend “science” against attacks by big corporations and politicians, especially in the US. But most accepted the idea, widely promoted by capitalists, that there is something called “science” that is or could be independent of corporations, politicians, and other arms of the capitalist society. That’s not how a class society works.
In class societies, science is systematic knowledge of the material world (including society) of, by and for the ruling class. In particular, capitalist science is knowledge of the material world of, by and for the capitalist class. Capitalist science has worked out really well for the capitalist class. It and the technology it produced allowed them to conquer the world. Now each group of capitalists needs science to compete with their rivals, for example, to produce more and more lethal weapons.
In a classless communist society, there must be communist science. What will it be like?
Communist science is knowledge of the material world of, by and for the working masses.
“For” the working masses means seeking knowledge and developing technology that advances the well-being of the masses.
For example, capitalist science developed GMO corn that is more resistant to the pesticide Roundup. Result? Farmers can dump even more pesticides on corn fields. Monsanto profits. Farm workers and consumers of corn are poisoned. Communist science, if it finds a way to use GMOs safely, might develop corn which is more resistant to insects, easier to harvest, or more nutritious. Workers ourselves would decide, based on our needs.
Communist science will also be knowledge “of” (on the part of) the working class. Masses, starting as children, will increasingly understand the methods and results of communist science.
Finally, communist science is knowledge “by” the working masses. The masses are involved in deciding what to study, how to study it, and how to use the results. We’ll end the division between “mental” and “manual” labor. Workers will carry out experiments and research as part of their everyday work in production, health care and other sectors.
The huge Marches for Science proved that many people, some of them scientists, want a science that serves the vast masses of people and not the handful of billionaires who currently run the world. Under capitalism this remains a dream. Only communist science can make this dream real. That means remaking the world with communist revolution. If you want science for the masses, join the ICWP.
Front Page
