EL SALVADOR— “We need to discuss communist philosophy, dialectical materialism,” said an ICWP worker leader. “It is necessary to understand that the working class can sharpen contradictions and carry forward changes towards the communist system. It will help practical work in the factory or wherever we are,” she concluded.
Another worker leader added: “All of this will help us to better understand reality. Sometimes we are overwhelmed with stress and the bosses’ nightmares, and we believe and say that this will never change. But reality is not like that. So, let’s take advantage of this moment and ask any questions or raise concerns that we have. That’s why we are here: to discuss a little about dialectical materialism that helps us in the struggle for communism.
“I know that we are a little tired after having worked in the factory, but this will encourage us a lot,” he concluded.
Ten comrades from the International Communist Workers’ Party participated in the meeting. Seven of them are workers in a maquiladora factory.
In the past, communist parties did not trust the masses and believed that philosophy could only be understood by intellectuals. But our party considers that the laws of dialectics are an indispensable weapon that the masses have in the struggle for Communism. We have to use it to know how capitalism works and what Communism will be like, to be able to overcome our weak points.
A comrade gave an example: “The ICWP started with five men and women workers in the factory. The commitment of the comrades to carrying out communist work has allowed us to grow. There have been contradictions and we have managed to overcome them among the comrades and now we are dozens, and we aspire to achieve that hundreds, thousands and millions of workers organize themselves in the ICWP.”
We need to understand and to take advantage of the contradictions of capitalism to be able to advance in mobilizing for communist revolution. To understand that this system is not eternal. Capitalist philosophy claims that its system will last orever, but communist philosophy tells us that everything is constantly changing.
A couple of young workers were asked if they had been taught any philosophy in high school. “I remember this as one more subject, and never in a way that could help us understand reality,” they responded.
A worker said, “They told me not to meet with you, that you were troublemakers, but you all invited me to the meetings and never tired of inviting me, I was able to bring my whole family. I understood that you were right in your ideas against the bosses.”
Decades ago, a meeting like this in El Salvador was a reason for the participants to be tortured, murdered or disappeared. The rulers have a huge fear that the masses will understand and take up communist philosophy.
In this meeting, discussion of one of the main laws of dialectical materialism, the unity and struggle of opposites, made this law clear to the workers. A comrade said, “two things are interconnected with each other, but at the same time they interfere with each other. This is called ‘a dialectical contradiction.’”
We must review our internal contradictions. This is important because it can determine the advance or retreat of the party’s growth. Contradictions make things change.
An example is the unity and struggle between the working class and the bosses. This can lead to the crisis of the capitalist system but also to the triumph of the revolution through the organization of the workers for communism, defeating the class enemies.
Do we make friends, do we talk to our co-workers and friends about communism? Do we write for Red Flag? Do we take extra copies of Red Flag to share it?
Carrying out these actions can represent the change towards the victory of communism.