On this page: Letter from South Africa here ♦ Letter from India here ♦
Comrades in South Africa, India Respond to Report From Comrades in the Streets of Portland, Oregon
Comrades in South Africa: Destroy the Capitalist State
We salute the comrades in Portland who have stood up against the bosses’ tyranny, against the violent oppression by the police of the masses’ protests.
This has demonstrated to all of us that the myth perpetuated by the bosses —that we are more different than similar —is a lie. The demonstrations there have shown us, as physically distant observers, the similarities among people who are Black, White, Asians, Hispanics, from all walks of life.
Many are united under the idea of the rejection of the state.
The demonstrations in Portland attack the core of the capitalist interest, the institutions that constitute the state, including the courthouse. The bosses cannot tolerate this direct attack on these institutions because this debunks the myth that for society to thrive there has to be a state.
The ICWP says that we must destroy the capitalist state. The state will not wither away by itself. The state has to be violently smashed for it to fall. The institutions that form the state include: the judiciary, the congress (or parliament), the police, the president, the military, and the tax authorities.
Once the masses make a frontal assault on these institutions, the only way the bosses know how to respond is with brutal attacks. It’s up to us to mobilize all our working class family, including those in the military, so that we can turn the guns against the rulers and fight directly for the overthrow of capitalism, the destruction of the capitalist state and the establishment of the communist society.
The problem is that you can’t do this with these reformist movements. There has to be a Party that will organize society so that we can live in a communist way with communist principles.
We have seen examples where the masses have tried to seize power but without a party that will play a central role in terms of organizing, distributing and producing whatever the masses need. That quickly falls apart. The zone that was established in Seattle, quickly disintegrated into chaos because there was no Party behind it.
Hence it is important for the ICWP to take a central role in these protests and in mobilizing the masses for communism.
We are encouraged by the work of the comrades. We can do more, including us in South Africa, to support what is happening in the US. This does not happen in isolation because of our interconnectiveness. It also affects us. We are really encouraged by the progress that has been made and we would like it to expand and continue.
Thanks, comrades.
—Comrades in South Africa
India: Auto Workers in Solidarity with Portland (USA) Protests
We are a group of auto workers in Chennai, India. We read with lots of excitement about Portland. This is a message of solidarity with the workers who are fighting there. These workers are showing the way for communism. We all must learn from this struggle.
Today’s fight against the pandemic reflects the deep crisis of capitalism. No capitalist in the world has the power to end the crisis that was created by the capitalist class. They can either prolong it with reformist promises or hasten it with direct attacks on the working class. In India and USA they are launching a direct assault on the working class.
We have the power to advance in this situation, as the Portland comrades are showing. Their fight is our fight because the working class, when united under the communist banner, will defy all the power of money, greed, nationalism, sexism, and xenophobia.
In India, the rulers are more vicious. Every day, we are pushed to our limits. Whether it is incessant punishing monsoon rains, assault on the migrant workers, xenophobic attacks on Muslims, Dalits and other workers, daily rapes, and dehumanizing of women – it all leads to one direction. The real culprit is capitalism. Let us unite now for bigger and better society.
—Comrades in Chennai
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