SOUTH AFRICA, June 20—Our Communist Camp took place on the Youth Weekend that commemorates the sacrifice of the youth in 1975 who fought against apartheid. We wanted to link newer and older members, to deepen our struggle for communism and to build communist relationships within the collective.
We talked about communism, sexism, religion, and liberalism.
Combating liberal tendencies within ourselves was an important discussion. Some long-term comrades still show liberal tendencies. For example, someone gives a lame excuse for missing a meeting and we accept it.
We are surrounded by capitalist ideas so it’s understandable. But we have to keep struggling against these ideas, or they become a major obstacle to building the party.
The camp expanded on the discussion of dialectics that we had at the communist school after May Day. We focused on the three laws of change. The new comrades were really engaged. Some of the terminology and concepts were new to them.
We have to talk more about that and print some material to help them understand more about communism. It’s very important to study. Without revolutionary theory there can be no successful revolutionary practice.
But theory without practice becomes useless. The only way to learn is through practice. We need to distribute Red Flag so that we can see this qualitative change we are reading about.
The camp included individuals with different ideas. But the point of unity was communism. We all agreed that communism is the only solution to the problems we are facing.
We also agreed that there is a need for communist revolution. No ruling class will ever relinquish power voluntarily. For example, in Zimbabwe, Sudan, Venezuela, and Syria the rulers are tightly clinging to power.
Those who suffer most are the working class. Even though our class brothers and sisters are fighting for reform, these struggles show the need to violently resist and overthrow the capitalist class.
The comrades embraced the fact that there can never be communism without a revolution. Even religious comrades agreed, even though religion often preaches pacifism.
One of our differences was around religion. We needed to refute the idea that it’s alright to suffer in this life for the sake of an afterlife where there’s no darkness or hunger.
We needed to struggle in a way that did not alienate comrades who believe in religious doctrine. None of us were born communists. Most were raised to be religious. But once people study more about dialectical materialism, they will see the dangers of religion. We talked about India to show how they use religion to justify and build racism.
One comrade was very religious but now he understands dialectical materialism. His development clearly shows that we can win people to have a dialectical materialist outlook.
Every Comrade’s Contribution Is Important
Our collective is made up of individuals with different personalities. Some people don’t like to talk, but when they write, they are very clear and articulate. If someone doesn’t talk in meetings, it doesn’t mean that they don’t understand the line. In the past we had some people who could clearly articulate the line but their practice was very anti-communist.
We judge a person’s commitment based on their practice, not by how much they talk in meetings. We have new comrades, like K, who don’t talk much. But he is a very clear thinker. He chose to join the Party decisively, without hesitation.
If you go to a meeting and don’t talk, you can go home and write down your thoughts to share in Red Flag. The new comrades need to be comfortable writing. The more experienced comrades must be pro-active in struggling with each and every comrade.
On Sunday, we talked about our plans and goals for the next six months. We will have another communist school.
Our collective is made up only of industrial workers and students. We need to recruit soldiers and more industrial workers. We set goals to add soldiers to the collective. We know some people, relatives and old friends at some bases. The collective needs to reach out to them. Hopefully we can bring them into our collective. They could serve as a conduit to distribute Red Flag in the barracks—while we continue to mobilize among industrial workers.
Comrades in another area have plans to distribute Red Flag to migrant workers in the vineyards. Many come from Zimbabwe. They also plan to distribute Red Flag at train stations where they can reach a variety of farmworkers and industrial workers. We plan a fruitful six months!
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