FIGHT FOR COMMUNISM!
	International Communist Workers Party
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CALIFORNIA, USA, October 26 – “When I learned that the [racist, reactionary newspaper] OC Register supported Prop 47, I started wondering what was wrong with it,” admitted a liberal leader in the campaign to pass this November ballot initiative, financed by liberal and conservative capitalists.
We distributed a communist leaflet at several meetings and rallies this week. It explained what’s wrong.
Prop 47 is part of a ruling-class effort to divert mass anger at racist mass incarceration. It builds an electoral movement to strengthen the capitalists’ grip on our throats while saving the bosses $$billions. They need that money for war!
Political leaders must “channel populist passions” and “give voice to the justified grievances … while convincing voters that the simple solutions offered up by the populists are bound to fail,” wrote Yascha Mounk in the ruling-class mouthpiece Foreign Affairs.
Mass incarceration is a lot worse than a “justified grievance.” We say the solution is communism. Mounk probably considers that too “simple.” But, to the rulers’ dismay, it will not fail.

What’s Really Wrong with Prop 47
Prop 47 is a “sentencing reform” measure. It would reduce some felonies to misdemeanors, in some cases retroactively. The New York Times (10/6) calls it “common sense” that would save hundreds of millions of dollars. It identified this measure as “part of a national reappraisal of mass incarceration.”
“Clearly this would make a big difference in the lives of thousands of people and their friends and families,” said a Red Flag reader at a public meeting.
“But,” she continued, “Why aren’t sweatshop owners and war makers considered criminals? How would society have to change so that we could prevent or manage anti-social behavior without prisons? Focusing on Prop 47 keeps us from asking and discussing the big questions.”
Others nodded. They followed up on this in their own ways. Even the speaker admitted later that these questions troubled her too.
Some activists criticize Prop 47 for “not going far enough.” The NYT notes that even if it passes, California would still “lag behind” other states that have “achieved prison cuts with no increase in crime.”
Some call for the abolition of the “prison-industrial complex.” But that can’t happen under capitalism, a violently racist system in which a handful of rulers need mass terror to maintain their ability to exploit us.

Capitalists Are the Biggest Criminals
Capitalism drives to maximize profits by any means necessary. This creates a “me-first” culture. Some get obscenely rich through legalized theft (exploiting workers, war profiteering). Others imitate them with smaller but illegal activities.  Capitalism causes petty crime by creating expensive wants while denying the masses the means to satisfy them. It does this because it needs to constantly expand markets while driving down the cost of labor.
Communist society won’t have money or private property. We’ll all share the same standard of living. There will be meaningful work for all and a culture of collectivity and comradely respect. Fewer will turn to anti-social activity or dangerous drugs. We’ll be able to abolish prisons and handle anti-social behavior collectively.

Prop 47: Not a “Step in the Right Direction”
Prop 47 shows how capitalists use reforms to strengthen their system and divert the angry masses from communism. Its short-term benefits for some come at an unbearably high political cost to the working class.
The “No on 47” campaign, pushed by cops and District Attorneys, aims to build racist fear. But the “Yes on 47” campaign builds illusions that capitalism can be reformed to meet our needs.
The Prop 47 campaign is mainly aimed at non-voters, trying to get them to register and vote. It wants us to reject the “simple” but not easy solution: replacing the capitalist system at the root of all our problems with a communist world with production for human needs instead of profits.
Small steps can lead to qualitative change. But reformist steps tie us to the capitalist-imperialist rulers who will drag us over the brink into world war and mass immiseration, a qualitative change for the worse.
The small steps we need are to get more workers and youth to read Red Flag. Let’s discuss its ideas, and mobilize around them. Readers like you should join the International Communist Workers’ Party. Small steps along the communist road will lead to the qualitative change we need.

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