Dialectical Materialism: Overcoming Contradictions in Recruiting to ICWP
LOS ANGELES (USA), August 2 —A new comrade said during an ICWP collective meeting that dialectical materialism is confusing and just sounds like jargon. However, the communist philosophy of dialectical materialism is vital to understand how the masses can make a communist revolution. Communist philosophy is not just a personal point of view or a set of values. It describes reality. It’s a guide for action.
Our club decided to plan a series of three forums to discuss the three main laws of dialectics.
We studied our pamphlet on dialectical materialism and scheduled Zoom meetings so as many people as possible could come. Three young people who don’t usually attend our meetings participated along with the club members and another comrade.
The first session focused on the first law, the law of contradictions. A contradiction is a pair of connected things where (a) the two sides are at least partly made what they are by that connection, and (b) the two sides also interfere with each other, hold each other back or actually fight with each other.
Every process has its own contradictions. We can identify the main contradiction and strengthen the side we want to win.
It is important to identify our contradictions both internally and externally to be able to improve our recruiting for the party. During our first session, we asked, “What contradictions do we deal with when it comes to recruiting?”
A comrade expressed that there is a contradiction between wanting to win people to communism and being afraid they wouldn’t like her if they knew she was a communist.
We talked about the contradiction between wanting a communist society and working to survive in a capitalist one.
Another comrade said, “Being a mother and considering the price—that is my fear. Building for a communist revolution is an enormous project. It’s somewhat alarming.” The fear that she shared was something that many people have.
A comrade replied, “Without your comrades you feel alone. Collectivity helps us realize that we are stronger together and it will help defeat that fear.”
One way of stating the main contradiction is: individualism vs. collectivity.
Capitalism pushes individualism. Comrades and the entire working-class struggle with conditioning focused on their families and close friends within their circles. “My family, my paycheck, my apartment, my phone,” etc. This is the life capitalism provides where we are forced to compete for jobs to provide for our families.
On the flipside you have collectivity. The masses also rely on each other in their daily lives. We couldn’t survive without it. Coworkers in industrial worksites particularly, but also classmates, neighbors, family members, participate in networks of cooperation and provide support in many ways. This is the legacy of pre-class society, and the promise of the communist society to come.
The Party learns from the best practice of the masses. We fight for collectivity and against individualism in our political work, which involves producing and distributing Red Flag, participating in study groups, helping to recruit and build the party etc.
In communism, collectivity becomes primary. It involves production of goods that the working class needs to survive: food, clothing, shoes, shelter and healthcare. We will share in abundance as well as in scarcity and nothing will be bought or sold.
Even our social lives will see a transformation in collective society. Social relationships will be more meaningful and go beyond familial and just people we work with. Relationships and interconnectivity will flourish as we grow to see ourselves and our families as part of a greater community worldwide where we all matter and need each other for society to be how it should be.
In the conflict between the two sides of a contradiction, one side is almost always dominant. Situations where the two sides are “even” are rare and temporary.
But the dominant side does not have to stay dominant. The side that is dominant fights to stay on top. The other side fights to gain the upper hand. We are fighting so that our collective side wins and that we will be able to topple capitalist society. We will win but only together.
Our next article will focus on the law of “quantitative to qualitative” change.
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