UK Nurses’ strike here ♦ Communist Youth: Our Hope For Defeating Sexism and Racism here ♦
November 2022— National Health Service nurses on strike in England. The strike continues, affecting a million health care workers who are indeed “slaves to the cost of living.” They need to fight to abolish capitalist wage slavery, not for higher wages.
Our Hope For Defeating Sexism and Racism: More Communist Youth
My friend is very close to our party. I wanted her take on what is happening to women in the US and around the world as we move closer to open fascism. I asked if she thought we could ever get rid of sexism and misogyny while living under capitalism.
“It is baked into the system,” she replied. “People get these ideas through upbringing and environment. Just like racism, we are dulled to what is going on and this makes it easier for us to tune out.”
We have talked before about how communism, which eliminates class society, will transform everyday life and family relations and allow us to end sexism. Only mass mobilization for communism can finally end the subordination and special oppression of women
We also discussed how identity politics are not the right way to fight sexism. An example is Italy’s first female prime minister, the neo-fascist Giorgia Meloni. She is openly nationalist, homophobic, anti-immigrant, and anti-Roma.
“There’s no reason to think that just because they’re women, they’re good,” said my friend. “They try the same game with people of color. If their politics don’t align with our values, I say screw them!”
I mentioned recent Red Flag articles about people around the world fighting back against misogyny and sexism. There are recent excellent examples from Iran and India, as well as big demonstrations in the US. It is very encouraging to see young people fighting back. That is where she sees our hope. She thinks it is important that we recruit lots of young people to ICWP.
I asked how she thought we might do this. She suggested a series of roundtable discussions, inviting lots of young people to join us and making their input the focal point of these meetings.
“Discussions about topics like fighting sexism don’t happen all by themselves,” she said, “but require in-depth conversations where there can be give-and-take. People can disagree and that is good. We need to ask them what they think, not just tell them what we think.”
She continued, “This kind of discussion gives me more incentive to become active.”
Our collective plans to follow up on her suggestion and make plans for an event or series of events in the new year. We will specifically invite the young people we know: our own friends, children of friends, neighbors, etc. We will listen to them, not just lecture them. And we will be sure to ask this friend to help organize this event.
—Comrade in Seattle (USA)
Read the ICWP Pamphlet:
“The Communist Fight Against Sexism”
Available here
Front page of this issue
