U.S. Mobilization for War Against China: Communists Need to Mobilize for Communist Revolution
“We’re in competition with China and other countries to win the 21st Century,” stated President Biden in his first speech to Congress.
The rulers call this “great power competition,” mainly between the US, China and Russia. ICWP calls it inter-imperialist rivalry for world domination which inevitably leads to world war.
Biden put forward a massive plan for jobs to re-build US infrastructure. Sounds good, but its purpose is to mobilize US youth for patriotism and war.
When masses of people, especially youth, of all “races” fearlessly took to the streets after the racist police publicly murdered George Floyd, it terrified the US rulers.
They hope that mobilizing for patriotic service to the country will turn these angry anti-racist masses toward fighting and dying to defend US imperialism, and that a mass national service program will do the trick.
That is why the New York Times and the Council on Foreign Relations – main policy makers and propagandists for the dominant US imperialist wing –call for Biden’s jobs program to be a national service program—to create “green energy” and other virtuous-sounding programs to unite the nation for war.
This is more urgent than ever as US imperialists negotiate an end to their failed military adventure in Afghanistan in order to militarily reposition themselves for conflict with a rising China and a resurgent Russia.
Thus, Gen Stanley McChrystal, former commander of the US forces in Afghanistan, called on Biden to invest in universal national service for one million US youth a year. The New York Times carried an editorial calling for national service for all US youth.
On May 4th the Brookings Institution, a top imperialist think tank, announced a year-long campaign for national service, which they compared to the New Deal programs of Roosevelt, US President before and during World War II. This included government jobs programs to build infrastructure and prepare the US to enter WWII, followed by a wartime draft. Today the bosses are preparing for World War III.
Today’s rulers want and need a draft. They hope that national service will make it more acceptable.
War: Danger and Opportunity
During wars, masses of workers, youth and especially soldiers worldwide become politicized.
During the Vietnam War, massive rebellions of soldiers and sailors against racism and imperialism rocked the US military. The soldiers killed many officers rather than attack the Vietnamese people.
This, coupled with the bravery and commitment of the Vietnamese fighters, forced US imperialism to flee in defeat. They could no longer field a reliable army.
Russian Communists (Bolsheviks) organized among soldiers, sailors and workers, before and during World War I, to turn the bosses’ war into a revolution for workers’ power. Facing death at the front, rebellious soldiers took the lead in joining with workers to turn their guns on the warmakers and make a revolution. They took state power in 1917.
Youth who become soldiers and workers are key to revolution.
That’s why we encourage youth – ICWP members, Red Flag readers and others around us – to join the bosses’ armed forces and national service and to get jobs to mobilize for communist revolution. To become the leaders that our class needs to galvanize masses to fight for and win communism.
War changes people. Youth forced into the bosses’ military to fight other workers for the profits and empires of capitalist exploiters can see that capitalism is the mortal enemy of all workers and soldiers. They can see through the lies that they are fighting for “freedom and democracy” or “our country.”
But most important: They can see the need and mobilize for communism.
This requires long term communist work in the rulers’ militaries. Communists known and trusted by other rank-and-file soldiers need to give them leadership and build communist collectives.
Imperialist war is inherent in the profit system, which is based on competition for maximum profit and world domination. The only way to end imperialist war is through communist revolution to put an end to money, profits, competition and wars for profit.
In communism, after revolution has eliminated all capitalists worldwide, we won’t need wars. We will act as the one human family that we are, sharing resources and learning from each other to build a communist world that meets the needs of everyone.
Communists struggle to serve the working class, by joining ICWP and mobilizing for communism among students, workers and soldiers. Joining the military or national service is a key way to serve the working class now, making friends with other angry youth who are looking for answers, building collectives, and becoming leaders of ICWP and the whole working class.
Read our pamphlet: ‘Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Crucial for a Communist Workers’ Revolution’
Available here
Front page of this issue
