US Imperialism Declining and Interest in Communism Rising
LOS ANGELES (USA), June 10— “Revolutionary communist? Sure, let me have one.” That’s how many responded to Red Flag while entering the People’s Summit.
This was a gathering of “unionists, activists, grassroots organizations, and progressive people of the Americas” to counter the Summit of the Americas, which usually brings together leaders of all the nations of the continent.
This year’s summit in Los Angeles was a “debacle” for US imperialism – according to Richard Haass, president of the influential US liberal rulers’ Council on Foreign Relations. “The US has no trade proposal, no immigration policy, and infrastructure package. Instead, the focus is on who will & will not be there. Unclear is why we pressed for it to happen,” he tweeted.
It was “a measure of how far the U.S. has fallen.” (The Atlantic, June 13, 2022)
The summit exposed US imperialism’s weakening grip on Latin America. Russian and Chinese imperialists are making inroads in the region. Absent were the presidents of Brazil, Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Bolivia. Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua were not invited.
More important for us, the US rulers are losing their ideological control of the masses, especially people under 40. A 2019 poll showed that almost 40% approved of communism.
People’s Summit Anti-Communists Couldn’t Stop Masses from Taking Communist Literature
Comrades distributed over 200 Red Flags and about 100 pamphlets: “Fight for The Day No Worker Is Called a Foreigner.” Over half of the attendees eagerly grabbed them on their way in.
Some organizers freaked out. Three “security” people tried to run us off the public sidewalk. They said, “the summit is a private event and therefore the sidewalk is no longer public.”
We told them to ask a civil liberties lawyer. One came out and, of course, agreed that conference “security” had no right to run us off. We continued to distribute our literature.
But the organizers kept “all members of your organization” out of the event because “you might disrupt it.” Friends who were attending the conference and tabling for their organizations were appalled by these anti-communist attacks.
Our Party had no interest in physically disrupting the People’s Summit. But we came back the next day prepared to disrupt it politically. We distributed over 200 more Red Flags and about 100 copies of our pamphlet, “The Communist Fight Against Sexism.”
We brought, too, a new leaflet that sharply confronted the conference line.
“Maquila workers in El Salvador, members of the International Communist Workers’ Party defied bans and threats of arrest to march on May Day,” it began. “Their leading banner proclaimed: ‘Communist Revolution Will End Fascist Terror.’ Not ‘democracy,’ not ‘socialism,’ not ‘peace,’ not ‘labor rights.’ These industrial workers, mostly women, organize for communism and nothing less.”
Articulating values shared by many attendees, the leaflet called for “A communist world without capitalism’s borders and nations. Without the capitalists and money. Without the wage system that enslaves and commodifies us while nourishing racism, sexism, casteism, xenophobia, and all other capitalist ideologies used to divide and exploit us.”
Taking their disagreements head-on, it explained why it is always a mistake, “to fight for something else: national liberation, democracy, or socialism. Socialism, keeping money and markets, ended up being another form of capitalism.” And “today, Russia and China, once centers of world revolution, are imperialist powers challenging US imperialism for world domination.”
Faced with rising fascism and the growing risk of a nuclear World War III, the leaflet continued, and with masses worldwide in motion, “Communism is more urgent than ever.”
Build Communist Relationships with Anti-Capitalist Younger People
Comrades were inspired to see how many younger people are questioning capitalism, looking for radical solutions, and ready to act on their beliefs.
Defying the summit organizers’ heavy-handed thought police, most attendees were open to communism. They were not won over by the leaders’ reformism. Neither were most firmly committed to democracy, national liberation, or socialism.
The closing march on the Summit of the Americas showed this vividly. Hundreds of marchers – about 30% – eagerly took our leaflets, papers, and pamphlets. In the march, a young participant came to us, asking for Red Flag and told us, “Long Live the Communists!”
We saw the potential, but actualizing that potential is the work of more than a few days. Let’s develop plans for consistent work among younger people, especially those who are already anti-capitalist. Let’s seek out and embrace opportunities to build relationships with them that will lead to more revolutionary communist leaders.
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