Red Flag Letters

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California High School Student finds ICWP
Excerpts from this letter appeared in the printed version of Red Flag. This is the complete letter.

As a kid I was inundated with rants on how wonderful capitalism was by my school, my parents and the media; being too young to think for myself I bought into it. Inconsistencies became too hard to ignore, if it was so great then why were there suicide nets in factories, why were people forced into prison labor and the concentration camps known as ghettos based on the color of their skin? Why is my country at war against innocent civilians all the time and why are we killing the planet if we were so civilized and progressive? Answer is of course that US ruling class and its allies aren’t civilized, or “not perfect”, in fact they’re one of the most despotic empires to have ever existed.
I read a biography about Che Guevara: about his trip across South America where he witnessed severe systemic poverty and oppression in all the countries than vowed to fight the system that caused it. I was taken aback by his wisdom, compassion, and his and Fidel’s poetic speeches, although his homophobia can’t be overlooked.
It was clear Communists weren’t power hungry monsters wanting to enslave everyone for their own opulence as I was taught, it was the capitalists who were doing that. It was the very same capitalists and fascists who shed crocodile tears towards alleged communist atrocities (like the Holodomor, there was in fact more food going to Ukraine than much of the USSR so in no way was it an intentional famine, unlike the starvations of the Irish by the British) while committing the very same crimes on a scale unbeknownst to human history: the world wars, the millions of Africans dying on slave ships than thrown into the ocean, over a hundred million Native Americans killed in a genocide that continues to this day (they are killed by US police more than any other ethnicity), the countless millions murdered to establish slave republics and geopolitical control for the imperial powers etc.
It was with this realization that I lost all connection to the bankrupt society that permeates the dying planet like the terminal cancer that it is. I read Marx, Lenin, Mao, Stalin and fell in love with Marxism Leninism. I joined several internet communist discussion groups to develop my line, and I argued with liberals, attempting to show them the flaws of putting their faith in shills like Obama and Sanders. The latter was nearly always to no avail.
It horrified me to see so many people who seemed to care about world issues make endless excuses on behalf of Imperialist capitalist murderers like Obama and Sanders, then claim to be anti war, anti capitalist and even socialist! It became clear how reactionary the politics of my class are (petty bourgeois: those who operate the machinery of the capitalist system, the accountants, computer programmers, clerks, who are all privileged with the spoils of imperialist war). For them they either fully support the system if they are the conservative sect of liberalism, for the “left” sect of liberalism it is radical and honorable to seek quantitative changes in the system and “extremist” and shunned to seek any qualitative changes. “Perfect is the enemy of the good” they say. I desired to be around people who thought of justice as more than a fashion statement, and realized all liberals are bitter enemies of the good.
A friend in one of the discussion groups referred me to an ICWP member. After some reflecting on their line, which I was initially impressed by with some reservations, I decided that it was true: socialism is a form of capitalism. No matter how great the leadership, as Stalin says socialism is unfortunately not to each according to their need but to each according to their contribution. Although that is not entirely what makes it capitalism, currency and commodity production is.
I deeply admire the idea of flipping the pyramid: of giving the most oppressed sectors of society collective direct leadership instead of a representative bureaucracy. The proletariat is the most revolutionary class; they are the gravediggers of capitalism.
What better way to consolidate a dictatorship of the proletariat than to have direct democracy for the proletariat? Dogmatic Marxist Leninists object to this, clinging to Lenin’s work like gospel yet they fail to realize that Lenin demanded “What is to be Done” not to be published, for he was writing about applying Marxism to the material conditions of early 1900s Russia where most of the population was illiterate and in the medieval times technologically. In all his writings he was addressing the specific material conditions and material conditions are always in flux, it is undialectical and unscientific to interpret his work as eternal principles for every revolution.
Today we have the world wide web and training the entire proletariat to be politically active is possible, there is no need for a cadre party dictatorship, we can upgrade to a mass party dictatorship. Having power invested in a relatively small number of people is too risky because as soon as revisionist social democrats take over capitalism in its standard form is fully restored.
In China the people wanted communism as the Maoist government talked of the people not being ready for communism while simultaneously talking of serving the people. It is undeniable there were great achievements in the cultural revolution and far more equitable production and development than standard capitalism, but when the Dengist social democrats took over collective production was replaced with corporations and the communes were abolished. Such a rolling back of the gains of the revolution happened far too easily.
It is time to take the “serve the people” slogan seriously, and not having power invested in a head that can be easily go astray or be severed; to have a mass party instead of a cadre party is to require hundreds of millions of heads to be severed before we fall instead of a relative few; in Che’s final words: “shoot, coward! you are only killing a man”. Ideas are far more powerful than guns, and ideas are worlds more powerful when honed by millions instead of thousands.
It is time for the proletariat to seize the world from the grasp of the bourgeoisie and destroy classes, currency, nationalism, and institute a society where goods are produced according to one's ability and distributed according to need.

I am a 17-year-old sophomore in high school on the East Coast of United States. I have been fascinated with communism, communist movements and the Soviet Red Army for many years. It is my desire to see communist revolution happening worldwide by organizing those who stand against capitalism and fascism.
I found out about the Red Flag and International Communist Workers’ Party (ICWP) from the social media page. It was very interesting to hear about people wanting communist order in place. I was very happy to see workers and students organizing in other countries for the same goal.
We need communism for us all to fulfill our needs. Communism can become a reality but we have to organize seriously and convince masses of workers and students. I asked the comrade in ICWP how to join and after he explained, I am willing to join and organize. I’m not that good at writing. But I’m good at persuading people with my voice. I am spreading the ideas of the Red Flag to others.
—New Comrade

I know that the International Communist Workers’ Party (ICWP) is established in different places around the world. However, we need to be working and advocating for the establishment of ICWP worldwide. We have to think more about how to make this happen. In this way we can mobilize the masses for communism around the globe and struggle to explain and inform others that together we can make a change for a better life, community and world not just for ourselves but for generations to come.

Reading Red Flag informs me that we in the US are not the only ones who are involved in the communist struggle. The working class is exploited all over the world.
Reading it also makes me think that there are a lot of people and organizations that tell you one thing and do the opposite. It frustrates me that these organizations take advantage of people and convince them that they can make a difference to help society.
I see that the International Communist
Workers’ Party rejects the social pyramid of the rich, the middle, and lower class. In communism there is not only one leader. We are all leaders and we all work and learn from each other.
In communism each person has his or her needs met. No one is treated differently for his or her nationality, race, sex, religion or sexuality. All of us, if we mobilize the masses for communism, however we can and wherever we are, we can change the world so there will be no exploitation for anyone in the world.

After reading the articles in Red Flag about South Africa, it makes me wish I could’ve gone and met fellow comrades over there. It’s a
beautiful thing to see people all over the world join the masses in their struggle for a better world.
Capitalism is making life impossible for the masses. And even though education is free, we are still getting a capitalist education. Communist education will be totally different because we’ll eliminate paychecks and money altogether. We will destroy the wage system and production for profit, and we will abolish borders, racism, sexism, and imperialist war. Communist education will be set up to move forward, expand and defend our communist revolution.

I find it real interesting reading the articles in Red Flag, especially the part about South Africa. When I read them, they give me a good idea on how communism can really change life here on earth, as well as the people.
One message that I have for my fellow comrades in South Africa is that it’s a good thing that they are mobilizing the masses for communism; we are trying to do the same thing. We should meet up more often and build up our understanding based on the relationship that we have towards building communism. We are planning a video conference call with students from the US and students from South Africa.
Another thing I’d like to say about the articles is that they show how communism will work. They explain the idea that if we get rid of money, in all its forms, this world wouldn’t be how it is now, all corrupted. They also help explain to the masses of how we can get together as one and fight those who dare to interfere or think that communism is bad.

After reading Red Flag, I was astonished of how comrade Tata entered the struggle to fight for a better world at a very young age, and surprised at how long he has maintained his fighting spirit. Tata has waited too long. The revolution is on its way. Judging on how the world is doing now we must wait a little longer but not too much longer. This why we have to redouble our efforts in distributing Red Flag as widely as possible and set up more and more Party clubs wherever we can and whenever we can. When the time is right then we will strike. It must have been a good speech that comrade Tata gave at the ICWP international conference in South Africa. We promise you, comrade Tata, that you will still be with us when the revolution happens.

LETTERS FROM THE UNIVERSITIES
From South Africa: “I Only Live for Communism”

I’m a young college student in South Africa. I joined the International Communist Workers’ Party before its recent conference here. My friend and I were invited by a comrade who lives near my house to go to a meeting.
When we went to his place we found him with other comrades from outside the country. At first we were intimidated by them. But we simply realized they were just like us, especially the young comrade who made us feel at ease.
They explained to us what it really means to be a communist. You have to walk the talk. And these comrades were living and breathing communism. That’s what made me decide that I want to join the Party. They opened my eyes to the disease which is capitalism. That is why it is also my duty to do the same: to educate my peers about who the bosses are destroying, the working class.
From now on, I only live for communism. We are studying the recent articles “On Contradiction” in the Red Flag, which we find helpful.
—A New Comrade

“Then we should opt for socialism,” wrote two students in their examinations, while two others said this to their classmates as we were ending a course at the university where I teach.
I replied that socialism was state capitalism and briefly mentioned the lessons of the Russian and Chinese revolutions. Later, I talked with them privately and gave them the Red Flag newspaper. I told them that it would interest them, that the paper reflects the feelings of our working class around the world. That it shows workers who do not agree with this system that every day sinks us deeper into poverty and exploits our labor power. That we need to organize to have a more just world, that is a Communist system, in which each one gives according to their capability and commitment and receives according to their needs.
They asked if it was the Communism of the past. I told them that no, it is advanced Communism, scientific Communism. I told them that we should learn from the errors committed before. These included keeping money and the wrong belief that we could fight in stages (first socialism, or democracy) to achieve communism.
They raised more questions to which I responded. One commented that even though he hadn’t yet read the paper fully, so far he saw that Communism was repeated a lot. I commented that we workers produce the paper, from the maquillas to the barracks, unemployed, housewives, students, etc. If he agreed I would write about our discussion, since it serves as an inspiration to many workers. He said yes.
I mentioned to another student to whom I gave the paper that I had the confidence to talk to him about it. Being his teacher for almost five months had allowed me to observe his “critical” analysis but that something was lacking: class consciousness. He asked me what that was. I told him that it was the understanding that you belong to only one class, the international working class, which the bosses take advantage of by exploiting to increase their wealth.
I mentioned a time when he asked me if a career was worthwhile or if it were better to keep trying for the army. I was going to answer that he should go to the army, but I thought at that moment that it wouldn’t be useful if he didn’t have political understanding. So I told him that the career was good and that if for now he had no other plans he should continue here while he tried to enter next year.
And then I told him about the importance of the army for revolution, that soldiers are the ones who have the weapons. And in a revolution they are capable of turning their weapons against the bosses. That’s why it is necessary to win the soldiers, to do political work among them. I talked to him about my few experiences and conversations with soldiers. He responded that he had friends and relatives who are soldiers. He talked briefly about a soldier who some time ago disagreed with what was happening and sent a letter to the President of Mexico showing these disagreements and the feelings of other soldiers. But some time later he died from “unknown” causes.
These experiences are part of a short process in the school where I work, even though I don’t know if they will rehire me. However, I guided students to become involved or interested in social questions, from showing a documentary about racism prepared by the comrades in South Africa and some strategies in class like asking them every week for news which were shared and which led to discussions. Also we had debates in groups which allowed me to get close to the students and to give the paper to some in particular and to talk about the Party with some students. Now there comes another great challenge, to follow up with them, as with the other friends to whom we give the paper. Great challenges for great changes! Join the Communist Revolution!

FIGHT FOR COMMUNISM!

International Communist Workers Party

Letters to Red Flag

	FIGHT FOR COMMUNISM!
	International Communist Workers Party


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