South Africa: Hastening the Fall of Capitalism
Under the cloud of the pandemic, capitalism slows for everyone to see, and the strength of the working class is also there for everyone to see.
Because of the lockdown everyone is sitting at home, so businesses are losing money. That demonstrates the fragilities of the capitalist system which we can exploit as an organization and also as a working class
And it is important for us to reflect not only about the horrors of capitalism but also what have we done to hasten the fall of capitalism.
Here we had three targets that I want to report on.
We proposed to revive the collective in Zwide. We managed to reach that goal. Comrade X has been actively distributing Red Flag in the high school. He has made concrete plans of organizing the troop in high school but because of the lockdown, he can’t be actively studying with them. As soon as the lockdown is lifted, we’ll start the study of dialectics together with troop of those students. With these young people, it is encouraging. Capitalist ideas have not fully taken root so they will be easy to root out so that we can instill our communist line.
In Motherwell, for quite a while not a thing was happening. But it is the third-biggest township and it is imperative that we have work there. We’ve managed to engage with comrade Z and also with his father who is an industrial worker. He promised to start actively distributing Red Flag and also our pamphlet in their workplaces as soon as they open. And Comrade Z is actively distributing Red Flag amongst his friends and amongst the communities.
The response has been overwhelming coming from Zwide, and coming from Motherwell. Based on these two developments, the party has grown in South Africa, from one to three collectives.
Now the main task is for us to consolidate this work. Other comrades can learn from these experiences, just as we have learned from other comrades’ experiences.
The only place where the work has been slow is in s because of the distance and the problems in terms of them receiving the material in time, so that we can struggle with them and encourage them to distribute it.
There should be someone there to assist in the work and try to accelerate it. Then we’ll be able to open other fronts in other provinces.
Our main task is to mobilize the masses for communism in the whole country, not just in Port Elizabeth. Now it is about time for us to take this next step, to seize on the opportunities that are created by the virus. The virus is a bad thing, but it has given us the opportunity to recruit workers who are disgruntled with the bosses into our cause.
Nigerian Workers in Johannesburg demand food parcels that had been promised during the 21 day Covid19 lockdown
South Africa: Communist Philosophy Helps Us Understand Change
One of the most important things that dialectics teaches us is how to understand the process of change. Our main goal is to mobilize the masses to change the world, to bring about a communist society through a communist revolution. It is to change the capitalist exploitative wage system. Understanding change, then, is imperative. Dialectical materialism helps us to bring about the change we want.
I joined the party during its 5th anniversary conference in South Africa. What was key for me was the struggle we had on dialectical materialism. When I heard about the party and about communism I largely agreed with the idea. What I lacked was confidence. I was skeptical because I believed that “you cannot end capitalism.”
Dialectical materialism teaches us about the contradictions in processes. A contradiction is the unity and struggle of opposite things or processes which are connected, but which interfere with each other and cause change. Through learning and understanding dialectics, I gained confidence that ICWP is going to change and end capitalism through intensifying our mobilizing of the masses to join the party.
Dialectical materialism is also important in helping to analyze and deal with contradictions within the process of mobilizing the masses and spreading communist ideas. In this process there are obstacles and opportunities, which are dialectical opposites.
Because of the failure of the capitalist profit health care system, physical movement is minimized, and conferences cannot be held physically in a hall. This is an obstacle to the movement. But opportunities still exist to make progress and spread communist ideas through virtual conferences.
Dialectics teaches us that intensifying our opportunities helps us overcome the obstacles in our way. This is true as we continue to advance our struggle and grow the movement even during the coronavirus pandemic.
Dialectical materialism, the communist philosophy of struggle, is imperative for the party and for our working-class family to grasp. It helps us to understand change and to bring it about in a scientific manner. To change the world, we must study and expand dialectical materialism.
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