NEW DELHI (India), October 4— “I would like to be part of your struggle. But if I miss a day, my wife and four children will not eat tonight,” said Ramesh, a regular Red Flag reader. Ramesh makes Rs 500 (US$5, R87) for his workday. There are four million workers like him. His work is not guaranteed. He works in a factory producing plastic casings and outer cables. But the internal circuit boards and other electronics are imported from China.
Ramesh waited for our visit after his 12-hour shift. Over a cup of tea, we asked what he thought of the BRICS meeting in New Delhi. He showed us a power bank he produced. Al the parts come from China, then get exported to the US. The US has placed tariffs on China and India. Companies are moving from India to cheaper areas like Vietnam. Workers in China, India, and Vietnam compete to produce products very cheaply.
The US-Iran war has directly affected Ramesh. Food prices have increased dramatically. Gas cylinders are so expensive that people burn discarded garbage as fuel. His factory laid off 800 out of 2,000 workers like him. There are thousands of factories like that.
“I was so happy to see these massive student demonstrations. I read it in the Red Flag and showed it to all my neighbours. They are so desperate that when we talk about communist change, they immediately want to know how we are going to change the society that is so corrupt and greedy.”
What did the BRICS conference mean for the masses?
Ramesh asked us to follow him on narrow lanes we had never visited. The street gets narrower. The surrounding shacks are visibly overcrowded.
Then we see an open sewer some thirty meters below. A steady stream of young girls precariously lower themselves into the drainage creek. They collect buckets of water to take back to their shacks for bathing, cooking, and cleaning.
Less than 500 meters from here, one can see million-dollar high-rise apartments and penthouses costing upwards of $200 million.
The BRICS dignitaries, diplomats, presidents, and their entourages will not see the masses’ unliveable conditions. They will marvel at the ultra-lux apartments as a sign of India becoming the third-largest $5 trillion economy by 2030. They will ignore that India ranks 102nd out of 123 countries in the Global Hunger Index. Approximately 350 million people live on $5 a day. They create enormous wealth for super-rich billionaires.
Many friends and neighbours joined us in Ramesh’s small room. They had all been reading Red Flag. Our comrades explained that BRICS is a group of countries where China plays a dominant role. Chinese capitalists are creating a digital and maritime ‘silk road’ and amassing wealth at the cost of working people. They are fast displacing the US as a dominant power.
The rise of China and decline of the US cannot continue indefinitely. It will lead to major wars for profit. We see signs of this in the Iran war. The working class has nothing to gain from any capitalists dominating. The workers in the shanty towns of New Delhi have everything in common with the workers in China who produce products at a breathless speed, making less money every day, just like workers in India, Vietnam, or anywhere else.
We have to destroy this system of capitalism and replace it with a communist society where the workers will not compete with each other but complement each other and provide for need.
A friend of Ramesh, who had been listening, said, “Comrades, I am a very poor man. I grew up in a village in Bihar and went to school for four years. At the age of twelve, I started working. I love reading the Red Flag with Ramesh and other friends. But I am not very educated. Many people around here are the same. We want to learn and embrace communism. Because it talks about getting rid of the system that makes you like a slave all our lives. But I am at a loss when you talk to me about these complicated things like BRICS, imperialist rivalry. Can you explain to me in simple words?”
Later, we had a bigger meeting of our collective. Ramesh’s friend has a valid concern. We are not explaining some articles in a way that people like him can understand. We decided to meet with them regularly and produce literature that everyone can read. This is the only way to mobilize the masses for communism. And the only way to destroy this corrupt and greedy capitalist society.