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LOS ANGELES (USA), April 19—Dozens of cars and angry marchers circled Mayor Garcetti’s mansion demanding he enforce a moratorium on rent and evictions and use vacant hotel rooms to house the homeless. Tenant groups are organizing a rent strike on May 1st in LA and other cities. ICWP went with our message of fighting for communist revolution.
Before Covid-19, 50% of LA County residents were a paycheck away from homelessness. Only 8% of county residents are black, but 42% of homeless people are black—the legacy and continuation of racist policies. Homelessness is increasing among unemployed workers of all “races.” Demanding that capitalist politicians defend renters won’t solve this. The solution lies in mobilizing to get rid of racist capitalism with communist revolution. In communism no one will own the land or housing. Masses will build housing for all to use without rent, mortgages, banks, or money.
UPS Red Flag Reader Outraged by Pandemic Profiteering
“Bravo!!!! Not hopeless but a steep hill to defeat capitalism.
“Notice the ads on TV geared toward making people who make $16/hour feel like patriots when ordinarily they are peasants to big business.
“We long to belong to the effort to beat this virus. It is a bonding experience that can take our minds off who and what the enemy is. Like I tell my ‘kids,’ most of what they we see and hear is a distraction. Like the fact that some people are making billions during this pandemic!!!”
We’d add: none more so than the billionaire CEO of BlackRock, Larry Fink.
Fink started Blackstone Financial Management (BFM) with money from Peter Peterson, founder of the Blackstone group. In 1992, BFM was renamed BlackRock and became independent.
On March 24, the U.S. Federal Reserve appointed BlackRock to oversee its new (potentially $4.5 trillion) corporate slush-fund. Three days later, the U.S. Congress passed an additional bailout bill. Guess who’s the key financial overseer? You guessed it: BlackRock!
It now manages $27 trillion of the global economy. It towers over finance, insurance and real estate sectors.
Blackrock is also the largest investor in weapons manufacturing. Fink, a Democrat, is fulfilling the legacy of his original financial backer, Peter Peterson.
Peterson was known for his campaign to end defined pensions, cut social security and Medicare allotments. He succeeded David Rockefeller as head of the Council on Foreign Relations. To maintain US imperialist dominance, he famously declared in 2004, “It’s weapons or walkers!”
We’ll scale that “steep hill to defeat capitalism” when more workers like our comrade join the ICWP. Communist revolution will put bloodsuckers like BlackRock’s Fink out of business for good.
—A Comrade
Mexican Soldier: “Those with Capital Make Sales While Workers Despair”
The following reflection is shared by a friend of the Party, with whom I have had sharp discussions. Days ago, he said that a communist society was not possible. However, he continues reading Red Flag. We continue to have discussions, and I have asked him to share our literature with other members of his unit. I have told him how valuable soldiers are in building a communist society. For now, he is one those who has remained closest to the Party.
I am a member of the army, and I had the flu. In the place where I work there were ten cases of soldiers with possible symptoms of coronavirus. In their psychosis they said that I was infected with the virus. In my case, after three days they discharged me and told me that I was fit to work. For me it was illogical, that’s my question.
Many questions remain unanswered, but one is clear. Those with businesses or capital are the ones who are making massive sales, while the workers sink into despair.
I have read information on the social networks, and I have listened to hundreds of people. My opinion is that the López Obrador government does not know how to fight the virus that is now collapsing the country. Some workers continue to work from their homes, and others are fired. Others were “laid off if they enjoy a wage.”
I have many questions and worries. There are many things that are not clear. How do you determine who has the virus and who doesn’t? And what if you have it, how did you catch it if you never left your State, and even more when you have been in the barracks?
—A Soldier in the Mexican Army
Red Flag responds: Soldiers, we need you. You, like the rest of the people from our class, will be sacrificed to maintain the bosses and their capitalist profit system. Join our struggle for Communism. Join ICWP.
Capitalist Fragility and Communist Resilience
Workers are astounded at how quickly and easily the corona virus overwhelmed the capitalist world. Billions are under lockdown. Every day thousands die, and huge countries like India and Brazil are basically defenseless.
Some workers blame it on stupidity and incompetence – on the part of our bosses, but the causes are deeper than that, baked right into capitalism. Competition forces bosses to operate their businesses and healthcare systems on a “mean, lean” basis, to save money. That means operating with the fewest workers and the least stockpiling of inventory.
This barely works under normal conditions and collapses under abnormal demand.
But under communism, there will be no money, no corporations, no profit; and no competition. We will have plenty of resources – billions of communist workers set free from wage slavery and racist and sexist exploitation.
We will work for resiliency based on redundancy.
A redundant system is one that is given extra resources to make it tougher, more solid, less likely to fail. More resilient. For example, airplanes have two engines although they can fly with only one. They have two pilots, although one is enough to fly the plane.
The internet has stood up very well, unlike the 737 Max. Vinton Cerf, one of its inventors, said that “resiliency and redundancy” were very much part of its design.
The bosses understand redundancy, but the pressures of competition mean they can’t use it systematically. However, under communism there will be no competition, and redundancy will be a basic principle.
Understaffing will be replaced by overstaffing – more workers assigned to a task than are normally required. For example, there could be more hospital workers, overlapping more often, with shorter shifts.
The tools and equipment used will be multipurpose, tougher, safer, easier to use. And there will be stockpiles of materials that will be needed under abnormal circumstances.
A boss reading this would think we are crazy. Who’s going to pay for this wasteful over engineering (or in our terms, where do we get the resources)? The answer is billions of workers and modern, highly productive technology.
And we don’t have to wait for communism to use redundancy – redundancy should be part of our daily work building for a communist revolution.
For example, Red Flag is accessible both online and (normally) in print. It is available in Spanish, English, French and other languages. When we meet someone who is interested in our ideas, we make sure that more than one person stays in contact with them, and with their friends and family as well. These ties are built around collective struggle on the job, in the classroom, in the community. Everyone can make a contribution to our new society.
Redundancy could be summed up as “more is better, up to a point”. More motors, more pilots, more editions of Red Flag. But mostly we need more people.
That is why it is so important that workers join ICWP. The more members we have the more we can do, and the better we can do it. There will never be too many comrades. There will always be some way you can help. Make us unstoppable!
Comrade in Canada
Letter to Comrade: Hard to Sow a Field of Communal Equality
My great and admired Juan—I want to explode in so many ideas, but I am still absorbing the robbery and massacre of my people, unfortunately and to my deepest pain I see how the communist party of Chile has sold out to capital.
One day, my friend, I will express my feelings and I believe that it will not be in support of the Communist Party because here it is being represented by thieves and hidden capitalists. Mario’s words resonate in my ears when he spoke to me about abolishing money, and dear Juan, I believe him. But here the struggle is hard, because where you would like to sow a field of communal equality, you face rats that dress in red and hide in a hammer and sickle.
Here the fight will be hard when we return to the streets, and my dreams of returning to Spain or visiting the US, may be cut short by a bullet or by prison.
I am sad, I dedicated my life to finding my happiness and today sadly I see that my life was dedicated to fighting against a factory of thieves, dressed in all colors.
Juan, thank you for your trust, and that of all the others who supported me and opened the doors of their homes without knowing me and made me feel like part of the family.
Juan I am at war against everyone who lies and steals from the people and the worker. I don’t care about their color and their costume. One day it will be known that I only wanted to be happy and have peace for myself and for all. I am not a leader, much less a martyr, but this is beyond me, my people suffer. Red Flag will have to wait until I feel that it’s useful.
I love you all more than life, and believe me I am not happy, but I will be, when I see that the brother who sits at my table is equal to all. It is time for revolution not of words, not of letters, its not time for ideas but for actions.
Greetings comrade.
Friend in Chile
LA Comrade Responds: Thank you for your letter, which is very impressive, full of love, analysis and a lot of anger. We agree with a vision of a new world without capitalist rats. We agree that the false communists (really capitalists) of the CPC (Communist Party of Chile/) are what you describe.
You know that around the world there are millions of workers fighting against this rotten system. We in ICWP have fought for many years against those who falsely call themselves communists or who are for National Liberation or populists.
The pages of Red Flag are full of these analyses and those struggles for a communist society. It is true that we need an armed revolution to establish the new society, and that is why we need to build our party and massive red army. For that we need organization and a constant recruitment campaign with a communist ideology. Without that, capitalism will be restored to continue its oppression.
To create a new society where we all see ourselves as one family without distinction, a big heart and a gun are not enough. We also need a communist ideology with a goal of how to achieve it. We have a plan and we are working on it. Today there are comrades in many parts of the world fighting for that vision. I ask you to read and analyze Red Flag and to distribute it.
Take care of yourself, because we need to keep fighting.
Comrade in Los Angeles
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