LETTERS, CRITICISM AND SUGGESTIONS
South Africa: On-Going State Capture Commission
Capitalist institutions are there to serve the ruling class but not the poor working class. During the last years of the rule of the former president of South Africa (Jacob Zuma), he was forced by the public to release a report compiled by the former public protector Thuli Madonsela on state capture. The findings of the former public protector focused on corruption of the Gupta family which suggested that they have captured the state.
The Gupta family owns a business empire spanning computer equipment, media and mining, and has been the focus of a widespread corruption scandal because of its close ties to Jacob Zuma during his Presidency.
What is the state or what makes a state?
Amongst other elements that make a state, the most important ones are the judiciary (which includes the judges), the legislature (which includes the parliament), the executive (which includes the government officials), and the army and police.
Following the former president’s forced resignation, the current president (Cyril Ramaphosa) appointed Judge Zondo to chair the state capture commission. At the beginning of the commission, it looked like everything pointed to the corruption of the Guptas. One of the government officials even stated that the Guptas offered him a R600 million bribe which he said he rejected.
A few weeks ago, a commission that was to focus on the Guptas and the former president took a turn.
Bosasa is a group of companies on the West Rand of Johannesburg that have scored a number of major tenders with the government. Its former Chief Operating Officer Angelo Agrizzi came to the Commission with information that did not focus on the Guptas, but that pointed instead to an almost endless list of government officials, Advocates, and other individuals who Agrizzi said have benefitted in the corruption. Bosasa got contracts by bribing government officials. He even provided video evidence of the Chief Operating Officer (Gavin Watson) of Bosasa in a walk-in vault packing money which they gave to the recipients of the bribes.
Unlike in the current system (Capitalism), in a Communist society we will do away with money which is the fundamental basis of the problems that the working class is subjected to by the ruling class. There will be an on-going ideological struggle to fight and defeat individualist tendencies that lead to greed and corruption.
There will be no government as this leads into a formation of another class that rules over the working class. There will be leaders who understand that they are part of the collective, not leaders who will enjoy special privileges.
Everyone will contribute in the society according to his/her ability and commitment and in return receive according to commitment and needs. We will produce for the use value and not the exchange value. We will build a world that meets the needs of the masses, not to line the pockets of the capitalists.
—Comrade in South Africa
Don’t Vote—Mobilize for Communism!
Over the weekend I was with my fellow comrade and friend. I was in his campus deep in the Central Business District of Cape Town.
I had a very interesting conversation with one of the students who lives at his residence.
Our conversation started by just talking about this election “fever” around the country. He was asking me which party am I going to vote for.
Well, I told him that I’m not going to vote because all of them do not represent my interests. Rather they represent the interests of the capitalist class and they are not interested in abolishing the system that exploits the masses.
To my surprise he was excited to hear all of that because he told me that he agrees with quite a lot of what I said, even though he thought he was going to vote for the Economic Freedom Fighters (a Socialist party) because he thinks in the present moment they fight for workers and students.
That’s when our conversation started to go deeper. I told him I was a communist and part of the International Communist Workers’ Party, in which we mobilize the masses to fight for communism directly. Communism being a classless society where we produce for what we need according to our abilities.
We reject reform and Socialism because we’ve learnt from history that it does not lead to full emancipation of the working class. It replaces the old capitalist ruling class with new ones while it maintains exploitation and the material basis for capitalism, which is money.
He said, “That is good. I would like to join and know more.” But he also he has more questions.
For us it’s a good development because our intention is to grow a collective in Cape Town. We have two existing members there and with the prospect of adding another two it means that we can start having regular collective meetings and start mobilizing more.
—A Comrade in South Africa
New Comrade Wants the Solution and the Truth
I am a new member of ICWP here in Port Elizabeth. A comrade mentioned that we new comrades should write down the reasons for joining the party. There is only one reason: it is the solution to the capitalist system because the system is the problem that needs to be solved.
I joined ICWP because I want to be a part of the people who want the solution. This system has destroyed our society mentally and physically. The solution for this capitalist system is to visit the working class and youth of the society so that we can brief them about the party as my comrades did with us.
The youth are struggling to get an Education in order to build a better future for all and they are unemployed because the bosses want to make a profit. The system has existed for many years now but we as people accept it because we lack the knowledge of the game of the system, to be able to see the wrongs of the capitalist system.
The mass party ICWP will contribute growth in the society. The South Africa working class and the youth need to know the truth. That’s why I joined ICWP. I want the solution and the truth.
—Youth in South Africa
A Society Where People Don’t Need Money to Live
Last week Comrade Z said to us new comrades that he would like us to write down “why we have joined the Party.” So I’m writing because I am willing to share my thoughts of why I have joined the Party. It is because I have seen some terrible things happen around the world, through the TV, newspapers, etc.
Since I have friends who are already in the Party, I have asked them what this party is about. Then they have explained to me clearly and I was satisfied.
I have learned some few things about the party: that it is against “Capitalists like big business exploiting workers. It seeks to provide a society where people don’t need money to live, where they just live freely.” That’s how a friend of mine explained it to me.
It sounds good to me and it helps the society to be open minded too because these things do happen around the world. So many black and white people have faced those kinds of issues of exploitation. So that is why I have joined the International Communist Workers’ Party.
—New Comrade Moe in South Africa
LOS ANGELES, US, February 2—Comrades took Red Flag to one-year anniversary protest against racist police murder of teenager A. J. Weber. More information is on ICWP blog icwpweb.wordpress.com
El Salvador: Students Discuss Elections and Violent Revolution
“I read the article, my friend,” said a university student. He was talking about the Red Flag article “Elections: An Illusory Trap.” “It seems to me to be very much to the point about the politics and all those tricks that capitalism uses to sell us an idea of democracy.”
I said that I believed that although people don’t openly and directly talk about the idea of changing economic and social systems, they have the need and ideal of change. That’s a sign that we can invite the working class to join the communist movement.
I said that only mass, collective popular and long term organization can generate real changes in the workers’ way of life. Only the working class can save the working class.
He responded with a phrase that reminded me of the recent international meeting: “People do not question because they are afraid of questioning.” During the international meeting, some words from the novel “The Hands of God” came to my mind. The author says: “You have to ask the people (the farmworker and the city worker) their opinion, what they think, so that they lose their fear of their executioners (the bourgeoisie).”
It’s normal to feel frustrated when we see that our friends at work or family members don’t organize protest actions like a strike, or become active in a workers’ movement. But that’s part of uneven development. We need to look for opportunities for discussions of the political situation of any country and the worldwide economic situation that results from capitalist free market policies.
At the end of our conversation the student talked about the civil war and the massive protests of the organized working class in El Salvador from the 1970s through 1990. He said that if that history were repeated, it would be a vicious circle where the masses are the ones who get killed in the end.
In view of this, I stressed the need for sweeping and basic changes through violence. The history of humanity shows us that men and women have changed and eliminated economic systems through mass mobilization and violence.
That’s how capitalism was born. The bourgeoisie took advantage of the revolutionary potential of masses of men and women and put itself at the head of the revolutionary process that put an end to the feudal system. They condemned the newly-born working class and the peasantry to wage slavery.
The communist movement organized in the International Communist Workers’ Party is now fighting to end that wage slavery.
I invited him to read the ICWP pamphlet on dialectics, specifically the Law of the Negation of the Negation. That way we can delve deeper into the discussion about the history of class struggle and the illusion of “vicious circles.”
—Red Student
EL PASO (USA), February 6: El Paso, TX, 2/6— March and rally of ten thousand, organized by groups that have been aiding immigrants for years. DemocraticParty politician Beto O’Rourke stole the spotlight. He betrayed the demonstrators when he justified immigration as a way to fill the ranks of the U.S. imperialist armed forces. Soldiers and workers, native-born and immigrant, must unite to defeat imperialism with communist revolution.
*****
New Immigrant Caravan Stuck in Panama
On the border between Colombia and Panama there is a new caravan of migrants. It is composed of 600 Cubans, 120 Haitians and others from Africa, en route to the United States. Once again capitalism shows its growing crisis that affects our class brothers and sisters.
In Cuba, Haiti and many other countries in the world there is high unemployment. Thousands of young people find no motivation in low-paid jobs offered by governments and bosses in the agricultural and industrial areas. Therefore, like others in Europe, Africa, Asia, and America, they look for a place where they can survive.
With the cry of “We want to pass,” pregnant women, children, young and elderly men, ask to be allowed to cross the Panamanian border and continue their journey north.
Many embark on their hard journey passing through Colombian territories occupied by drug traffickers and smugglers. These criminals were previously part of a paramilitary group financed by the US Company Chiquita Brands. This journey, with hunger, thirst, diseases, over mountains and trails puts their lives in danger. But because of their hope for a better life, these obstacles don’t stop them.
The government of ex-President Obama in 2017 eliminated the “wet feet, dry feet” law, which allowed those who arrived from Cuba by sea to be admitted as refugees when they set foot in the United States. Now many Cubans have had to travel to South America and Guyana, and from there try to travel to the USA. This caravan follows the model of the Central American caravans.
Although the government of Panama seems very humanitarian with the shipment of food and other aid, the truth is that it will not easily allow the passage of these migrants. That’s because of their dependence on business with the Trump government. The racism and patriotism of the Panamanian government has been one more attack on these workers.
In communism there will be no borders imposed by governments that protect the bosses’ profits within a territory. Much less will there be employers (bosses) and employees (wage slaves) because the International Communist Workers’ Party (ICWP), together with the masses, will not allow any form of exploitation.
We workers organized in the ICWP will make sure that there are no oppressors of other workers. For a world without borders, or wage slavery, participate with the ICWP.
—Immigrant Communist in the US
Studying Dialectical Materialism
The MTA (Public Transport) workers’ collective in Los Angeles, in the most recent study group with six workers, discussed the differences between dialectical materialism and idealist philosophies.
For some it was the first time hearing this kind of discussion. After a short presentation about these philosophies, a worker said, “I had never thought that philosophy was so important in daily life and in the struggle.”
“Until today I have been an idealist, but I also need to learn dialectical materialism,” said a new Party member.
We pointed out the importance for the working class in understanding these antagonistic philosophies. We said that it is vitally important that the revolutionary communist movement put the ideas of dialectical materialism into practice in the daily ideological struggle.
This struggle can help us with the mass distribution of our Red Flag newspaper. This will give us all confidence in the ideas and the fight for communism.
Then we concentrated on studying the Unity and Struggle of Opposites (contradiction), with some examples from the pamphlet. We talked about the contradiction between the two teams in a basketball game. Some of those at the meeting play basketball. One of them said, “I hadn’t thought about it that way. It makes sense.”
We also discussed the sharp contradiction between workers and bosses. The workers liked and were impressed with this.
As Lenin said, “Without revolutionary theory, there can be no revolutionary movement.” And this great truth is seen in all those reformist or pseudo-revolutionary movements that, because of opportunism and political ignorance, denied the crucial need to study dialectical materialism and put it into practice. And today we see how these movements crumble like sandcastles.
A weapon and a brave heart are not enough to take and hold power. It is essential that the party as a whole put the ideas of dialectical materialism into practice. At first perhaps mechanically, but with practice they will become an intrinsic part of our revolutionary understanding.
During the reading of our Party’s (ICWP) dialectics pamphlet before the dialectics study group, we observed that the philosophical exposition lacks a more detailed explanation of the struggle between materialism and idealism. We think it should be added to the pamphlet.
We agreed to continue studying the different laws of dialectical materialism for our development as communists and to fight in the best way for the construction of a communist society.
—Comrades in MTA, Los Angeles, USA
Using Dialectical Materialism to Help People Understand Personal Change
My work is to help people meet goals of sobriety and recovery. I believe that most of my success with the people has to do with my understanding of dialectical materialism. I also believe that when I teach them to look at a process using dialectical materialism, they will also be better equipped to analyze the world around them.
Dialectical materialism is the scientific study of how things change, but it is simply a tool. As most tools they are useless without applying/using them to/for something. In talking to people about how to get to their goal, we start to break down the process into something less daunting. We examine what the forces are at work, in other words, what is keeping the problem in place and what is pushing for change. This is the unity and conflict of opposites. These forces are united in struggle, but are also in conflict with each other.
We talk about ways to strengthen the “side” they want to win. If they want “recovery” to win then they’ll need to develop a plan for how to do things to support their recovery daily. They will also need to do less of the things that keep the problem in their lives. Eventually, this could lead to a qualitative change.
For example, I might teach them a new coping skill such as meditation. I emphasize how learning something new is also a process. Learning how to ride a bike is a similar, but different. You can’t learn to ride a bike by having it simply described, you must physically get on the bike and through practice master the art of balancing on the bike. Quantity leads to qualitative changes. To facilitate learning we practice on “easy street,” but eventually we get better and some may even learn to ride going downhill on mountains!
Initially meditation is easier to learn with guidance or by practicing in areas with very little to no distractions. However, one can eventually achieve a relaxed state even after being triggered by something that in the past could have led them to a relapse. Lastly, it is also important for them to know that despite relapses they do not suddenly forget all that has been learned. This is negation of the negation. Learning to remain sober long term requires a series of processes and each will build on the last. While some skills will start to become natural and new automatic responses develop, there will also be new learning and new challenges.
—Comrade social worker
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