Red Flag Letters

This young student F.A. from Chicago is a friend of a high school student from Houston who recently joined ICWP.
He started reading Red Flag online and then he requested printed literature. He then said, “I have made up my mind, I want to join ICWP. I do want to change the world around me with communism as I personally think it’s a better form of government than fascism and capitalism.”
Since F.A. was new and there were no other members, he sent this letter to us:
Fellow comrades of the International Communist Workers Party (ICWP), I’m in need of assistance, a “small favor” as you will. Before I explain my issue, I’d like to give some background on that situation. I’m a 15 year old that has been Communist for over a year now and I’m in the Chicago area. Now this is where I delve into my issue: My issue is that, as you may have known I’ve joined the ICWP on
February 3rd, 2016 and I’ve wanted to see if there were meetings in my area. Sadly, there aren’t (mostly because we have mostly undecided people near me who don’t realize the struggle of the proletariat) and because of that, I won’t be able to start a Chicago division of the ICWP and we can’t spread the idea of a proletarian revolution. This is where you come into the mix: I’ll just need to spread the idea through pamphlet and recruiting people to the party. I need help and advice from others on how to recruit members to ICWP.
A week later F.A. wrote:
Dear fellow comrades, I am of course, a new member of the International Communist Workers Party and a passionate follower of Marx’s teachings. I’ve learned however, that we don’t have a division of ICWP in Chicago. So, I planned to create it and recruit the way one member taught me: by spreading the ideals of the party through Red Flag and teaching the ideals of the party through word of mouth as well. So, after receiving some literature from a comrade with good connections, I’ve decided to distribute it to the school I go to. After receiving it, they’ve read it and liked the teachings and were interested in joining. I’ve recruited about 3 people to the party, which isn’t much, but it’s a start. Soon, we can make the party big enough as to where we can overthrow our capitalist oppressors and create a true communist society with the ICWP.
--Enthusiastic Young Comrade

I loved the Red Flag you shared with me! How do I join? I can get behind that! I’ll ask if anyone would be interested in reading Red Flag in the Socialist Collective, the major radical organization on campus that I am a member of. Red salute to you! Please send me 20 RF, should be good for the moment, and I will donate to you guys ASAP.
There is a very large Arab student body here. And I will call you when I am free. I am determined to do all I can with my comrades to mobilize people against capitalist imperialism and for communism.
--College Student in Ohio

I like them (issues of Red Flag) very much. I’m reading them now. Excellent. Keep up the good work! I want to join. I want to discuss and distribute Red Flag to my neighbors. I will do that! We must grow and destroy capitalism! I’m unemployed. I live in Mississippi, USA. I’m really poor now but I’ve got food stamps. I’m 53 years old, but I’m happy to know the cause will live on after me. I worked as a janitor all my life. Most of my life I lived in Mississippi, West Virginia, New Jersey. I visited the Soviet Union when I was young.
--Worker in Mississippi

In a previous edition of the Red Flag, it was mentioned about having some discussions and giving the paper and the military pamphlet to some soldiers in Mexico. This is the response of one of them who has been reading the military pamphlet:
I have read the document in parts and it is a very interesting topic, given the situations that people are living through in this country, and with the government wanting to make a war that it will not win.
The wars between the drug dealers and the military will not have an end until the government takes on its proper role and better serves its country which had hopes in it and stops living the life of luxury.
In the country, people like free Mexican brothers and sisters shouldn’t suffer because of a war that the same government carries out to cover up its corruption. That’s it for now. Let me read more and I will keep commenting.
Obviously the reader soldier has strong nationalist views and believes in reforms. How-ever, it has been a great advance that now he has read or is reading the military pamphlet and has written the previous comments. In previous discussions, his anger at the capitalist system was noted and his shock at the death of his fellow soldiers in the fight against drug trafficking in Mexico. However, we need to have more political discussions with him to clarify his ideas and to be able to advance his political consciousness and identify who are our main enemies, the capitalist bosses, and what is our proposal to liberate our class from this system of oppression and death, that is, our direct struggle for Communist Revolution.
Soldiers and workers of the world, let’s unite for Communist Revolution.
--Young Comrade from Mexico

Those of us who have endured many election cycles in the United States are not “feeling the Bern.” We are not being hoodwinked by Senator Bernie Sanders in his efforts to become the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee with liberal calls for what he claims is socialism and revolution. We have seen “bait and switch” candidates like Sanders before, and we can spot them when they reappear with the same, reworked message.
When we look at Senator Sanders, we see many previous left-liberal candidates who appeared to challenge US militarism or inequality. The most recent one is Barack Obama, but before him were John Edwards, Howard Dean, George McGovern, Robert Kennedy, and Eugene McCarthy. They all stood on the left edge of the Democratic Party. But, their main achievement was to resurrect a belief in electoral politics by claiming they could create a less militaristic or less unequal version of capitalism through the Democratic Party.
Bernie Sanders is not fundamentally different, even though he calls himself a democratic socialist who wants a political revolution. These words might appeal to disaffected people in their 20s and 30s who grew up after the Cold War. But, despite these slogans, Sanders has no problem with capitalism and a giant Pentagon budget, just the extreme inequality it has produced, as well as the losing wars his party supported.
For him, the solution is less inequality in an inherently unequal system. As for US militarism and imperialism, he is mum. He doesn’t even call for slashing the military budget to pay for universal health care and free higher education. Instead, he wants more taxes on the super-rich, what the Occupy movement called the 1 percent.
So, if Hillary Clinton is the nominee, which is likely, Sanders has already announced he will support her. Presumably he will make that message clear to his supporters, arguing that she is a lesser evil. When this happens, what he purports to be socialism and revolution will easily morph into support for the banksters and militarists who can’t wait for her to become President.
--Experienced comrade

The city committee held a criticism and self-criticism session of the last planning meeting for the May Day March. We had discussed and planned an opening speech, a presentation of the video from South Africa, communist songs and three discussion groups about reading MMC and preparations for the march.
A day before the meeting the news came that there would be no songs. The day of the meeting after the opening speech it was suggested by a veteran comrade to not divide the audience into three groups of mixed young people and workers but rather have two groups; one of workers and other young people.
In addition, another veteran comrade suggested giving the opportunity to a new comrade to present a short speech. However, the new comrade talked about points that did not reflect our Party line. He mentioned that it was necessary to accumulate food and start weapons training and protect our families, for example.
However this comrade is very committed to the party and helped a lot in matters of organizing the meeting. It would have been better that collectively we had planned his speech.
Our line, encapsulated in MMC, is to mobilize the industrial workers and soldiers in the capitalist armies, in particular and in general, the working masses to communist ideas and thus set the material basis for the victory of communist revolution. Although the planning meeting itself was helpful, the city committee agreed that the collective had not functioned, that on the issue of discipline we had failed and, that more importantly, it was not only necessary but essential to fight against liberalism and individualism.
One of the main organizers of this meeting and committee member of the city self-critically saw himself as responsible for failing to ensure that collective plans were executed. We must not allow liberalism and individualism to tarnish and hold back our communist collective efforts. If so we cannot mobilize the masses for communism. Onward, comrades.
--Los Angeles ICWP City Committee

Discussion of India Editorial

Criticism: Last Editorial Did Not Advocate for Communism

The editorial in the last Red Flag should not have been published as it stands. Though informative, it was not a communist article. It didn’t put forward communism (and our party) except as an afterthought.
The editorial starts well, reporting on the demonstrations in India against anti-Dalit racism. After three paragraphs, however, it’s time to take up the title of the article and explain how communism will abolish castes and all kinds of discrimination. But the editorial takes a different turn.
We get instead seventeenth century history: the conquest of India, textile mills in Manchester, poor weavers getting their thumbs cut off. Then we get critiques of the BJP, the CPI, and the CPI (M). Finally, in the third column the article refers to communism; but says nothing about what communism actually is. Only in the very last sentence does the article raise joining the ICWP.
History is important but not at the expense of advocating for communism. Perhaps a regular column on history would be a better idea (and it should feature history of communism).
Does this editorial help recruit communists to the ICWP? No. In my experience, lots of workers and even middle class people have already given up on capitalism. For many, the 2008 crisis was the last straw. What’s holding them back is not, for the most part, illusions about capitalism. Instead, it’s reservations about communism and the ICWP. They have a lot of questions that articles like the editorial don’t answer.
For a start, many don’t understand what’s involved in joining the ICWP. Do you have to know a lot of Marx? Do you have to be a mass leader? (No and no). The editorial is of no help.
Many are skeptical that communism really will end racism, caste discrimination, xenophobia and sexism. The editorial could have reassured them, for example by describing our plans to dissolve all forms of segregation.
Others fear that communism will degenerate into bureaucracy and end up like Russia or China. We need to explain how the abolition of money, wages, and all kinds of privilege will make this unlikely.
Finally, for some people, the main obstacle is that communism seems an unachievable dream. We need to explain over and over that that our approach is based on the lessons of a century of struggle, and that we can make the dream come true.
For these people the problem with the editorial is that it makes it look like we don’t take communism seriously. It reinforces the idea that we, like every other ‘left’ group on the planet, are satisfied to criticize capitalism and fight for reforms.
We can’t afford to make mistakes like this editorial. If we want workers to join the ICWP as communists, we have to advocate for the ICWP and communism.
--Communist Industrial Worker

Comrade in India: Editorial Helped Spread Communism

I am a student of economics at the University of Hyderabad where a Dalit student committed suicide. It was this incident that has triggered massive student demonstrations not only on my campus but across India. I have been reading Red Flag for the past six months. I am very active in the demonstrations. The article in Red Flag helped me a lot to understand why ICWP calls for communist revolution. All different political parties and student groups here are against the fascist policies of BJP. They want to reform the system by giving more opportunities to Dalit students in education, employment etc.
The article in Red Flag gave me an opportunity for the first time to talk about communism as the only solution among many of my friends. Students are very angry and are eager to learn, as well as open about communism. In India the communist parties are fighting for reform. We have big meetings of students regularly as the University is shut down. At the recent meetings I participated in I introduced Red Flag article by using social media. Many students liked it. At the same time there were others who said that the condition of the Dalits is so oppressive that fight to give them education, housing and healthcare now is the right thing to do. They argued that although communism will eradicate the evil caste system we can make some change in the life of Dalits by putting pressure on the government.
I know that this reformist idea sounds appealing but it is dangerous. Since the independence of India, the Congress government in India has continued caste-based policies of the Colonial era, BJP is continuing the same policy. Reading the Red Flag, I came to know that the modern caste system is the creation of capitalism and therefore replacing it with communism is the only solution.
I have been asked by a friend many times to join ICWP. Today I declare I am a member of ICWP. Not only me, four of my friends have also decided to join ICWP as well. We have a group of friends who are avid readers of Red Flag. It is a matter of time that they too will do the same thing. I know students at JNU in Delhi who are also getting the Red Flag. We made a copy of the Red Flag article to send it to other universities with a link to ICWP website. I request that you write more articles on India to combat fascist BJP. They are distorting history to brainwash the masses.
--New member in India

Today I was chatting with a colored couple. The guy was very very clear about politics. I loved the words he said to me. He said, “The only way to save with working class is with revolution and its heading toward a revolution because capitalism now is exploiting people more and more. We were talking about politics actually, and then I explained that my party is ICWP. We fight for a communist revolution. We mobilize the masses for communism and our main goal is to end the money system because we don’t need it. The capitalists depend on it. They can’t do anything—we make the production happen. They create overproduction crises.
So I was talking with this guy. I think he works in a firm, as a team leader or supervisor or something. We talked about many things. He’s a good guy. He was very excited about politics. I also gave Red Flag to him and his wife. They were very happy when we talked about politics. He is very clear about politics and he works in a firm and knows what’s going on. I keep meeting people like this. I like to meet people who actually work in a firm so I can learn from their experiences.
This couple has a son who is maybe ten or twelve years old who is a rugby player at school. He says he’s a good rugby player. He goes to practice every day of the week. And apparently he was told by his coach last weekend that it was his last match because he doesn’t qualify to be on the team.
Actually the last match that he and his wife went to, they watched their son playing and the coach couldn’t help admitting, “Yes, your son is going to be a good rugby player, but he was taken out of the team.” Guess who replaced him? He was replaced by the son of a capitalist. Apparently his father sponsors the team’s T-shirts for the school. He’s got money so his son’s position on the rugby team was guaranteed because his father sponsors the school rugby team with T-shirts. He’s a rich person apparently.
So I found that attitude very interesting because the guy was very angry, saying that the system is wrong, and that the cause is money. Then I explained to him that we don’t need money and he just agreed. He simply understood it. He said that we’re getting to the point where the working class is going to revolt against the system. But they need to combine as one because the system tries to separate the working class.
Blacks sit on one side in the firm. Coloreds sit on anther side in the firm, white on another. They never sit together. So there’s racism. He even said we have to break that racism. The system is very clever. It separates the working class. We talked about everything, comrades. It was very nice. I gave him and his wife Red Flag to read at home. They are my friends.
--Comrade in South Africa

FIGHT FOR COMMUNISM!

International Communist Workers Party

Letters to Red Flag

	FIGHT FOR COMMUNISM!
	International Communist Workers Party


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