San Francisco (USA): Communism, Not National Liberation, Will End Exploitation

No2APEC Summit-A Weekend of Communist Struggle here ♦ We’re Prepared—With Communist Solutions here ♦ No2APEC Summit-Capitalism is the Problem here ♦

No 2 APEC Summit: A Weekend of Communist Struggle: Why Communism, Not National Liberation, Will End Exploitation

SAN FRANCISCO (USA), November 14— “I don’t like nationalism. It divides the working class. If communists are fighting the bosses, then I’m a communist!” said a young person in our ICWP workshop at the No 2 APEC Peoples’ Summit in San Francisco.

“In the Philippines, National Liberation means a fight against oppressors,” said a young woman. ”I believe this helps to educate and organize for a revolution worldwide. You say that national liberation won’t lead to workers’ freedom, but for years that’s been the struggle in the Philippines. We should support it.”

“The Vietnamese workers fought heroically with tremendous commitment against the Japanese, French, and US imperialism for over 30 years! They defeated them all,” replied an ICWP comrade.

“But they fought for National Liberation, not Communism. So today, Vietnamese workers are wage slaves for Nike and other capitalists. The Vietnamese government is allied with US imperialism against Chinese imperialism.”

This discussion was useful because National Liberation is the main goal of many organizations. The next day, a “national liberation” contingent marched in the anti-APEC march.

History shows that all national liberation movements end up siding with one imperialist or another. They put new capitalists in power. The American revolution successfully defeated the British capitalists. The US rulers have imposed racist capitalism and imperialism on the masses in the US and worldwide.

We need communism—to get rid of all capitalists and imperialists. To produce for the masses’ needs.  As long as capitalism exists, the working class will be enslaved.

Thus, ICWP is building one international communist party, not separate parties in each country. Workers worldwide face the same capitalist enemy and need communism together.

“I disagree that no capitalist economic alliance has ever protected workers,” said another young woman. “We should reform the trade agreements to help poorer countries, like Mexico and the Philippines.”

She was responding to a comrade who said that the imperialist rulers have organized themselves into competing trade blocs that only result in greater exploitation of workers.

“Capitalism is based on exploiting workers. Imperialists move their enterprises to other countries to superexploit workers there,” said another comrade. “No rule will change that. Only by getting rid of production for profit and producing for the needs of our international working class will we end this super-exploitation.”

Another young man said, “My experience with Bernie Sanders turned me off to communists. He supports Biden in supporting Netanyahu. After five years of political activism, I am jaded!”

“Sanders doesn’t reflect a communist position at all! He is a social democrat. He tries to fool people into thinking we can change capitalism through elections. He supports US imperialism,” answered a comrade.

“How can you criticize Hamas when they’re the only ones fighting the Israeli government?” asked the same man.

“Hamas leaders are capitalists who live in luxury while the Palestinian masses are exploited and killed. Palestinian masses need to build a united struggle for communism, along with all workers of the world. They don’t need to replace one exploiter with another,” responded another ICWP comrade.

Forty people participated in our workshop in person and on zoom. It was very different from the others. Those had long presentations with only a few minutes left for discussion. Ours was organized to make discussion the main aspect. We put the chairs in a circle to see each other while participating in the discussion.

Mass participation in discussing and criticizing every aspect of the communist revolution we need is crucial. We need to take this approach at the mass demonstrations in which our class participates too. Encouraging everyone’s participation now is the way to guarantee the masses’ participation in making decisions in communism.

One Working Class, One International Communist Workers’ Party

A comrade opened the workshop by explaining our party and our communist vision of a world without money, borders, or imperialist war.

A comrade in the El Salvador maquilas described our struggle for communism among these industrial workers. He explained that no capitalist trade group can represent workers’ interests. That we must fight directly for communism, not to reform trade groups with “pro-worker laws.” This emphasized that industrial workers and soldiers are key for revolution and communism.

These short talks, our participation in earlier workshops, and our Red Flag distribution provoked this very lively discussion. It was a win for our ICWP. Seeing that thirteen people signed up to know more about ICWP, a comrade said, “Good! Let’s engage in more struggles like this!”

The next day, thousands marched against APEC and genocide. We distributed over 1200 copies of RF/BR, over 100 pamphlets about Mobilizing Masses for Communism and immigration, and 1200 ICWP leaflets “Abolish Imperialist Trade Cartels, War and Genocide with Communist Revolution.”

In all, twenty people signed up to learn more about ICWP. We have contacted all of them.  Now we need to develop communist relations.

We’re Prepared…. With Communist Solutions

What most stood out to me at the No to APEC conference was the clear difference between those who believe we need reform struggles and ICWP that organizes directly for communism and communist revolution. The reformers believe reforms are a pathway to “address root causes” and/or abolish capitalism. I see it more as a distraction that does not move people towards communism.

The reformers don’t have faith that people will unite behind a communist cause without hooking them into reform struggles. However, bogging down workers and students in reform struggles is basically telling them that capitalism works and simply needs some fixing.

Working within the capitalist system leads some to believe that the “justice system” can work for us if we have enough legal observers, social justice lawyers, protests, and advocacy. It says capitalism simply needs more regulation and ethical corporations. It says this is all possible under capitalism if we expose injustices and unethical corporations.

Reformers seem to get preoccupied with explaining the details and researching what companies should be exposed for wrongdoing. They don’t explain that the capitalist system was not designed to serve the working class, only the capitalist ruling class.

These errors have already been made by past communist movements. We must learn to fight directly for communism. We must take every opportunity to explain what communism is to the masses.  We cannot get stuck with reform struggles. They have never been a step in the right direction.

The first workshop I attended was supposed to be about organizing the new anti-war movement. Most of their presentation was detailing how Boeing was making huge profits from supplying the “war machine.” They hinted at being anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist but never at any solutions other than reforms. When I asked how their actions would lead to attacking the root cause of the problem or what their solution would be, they disagreed. They said that talking about these details would lead to actionable activities that people would join.

However, I saw when distributing the hundreds of fliers and Red Flags that people were open to communist ideas. Many have already concluded that capitalism does not work for them. They are looking for solutions. Are we prepared to give these to them? ICWP is prepared!

—Comrade in Los Angeles (USA)

No2APEC Summit—Capitalism is the Problem!

The corporate greed and power-hungry psychopaths’ abusive practices toward humans and their devastating methods to exploit earth’s natural resources are all too obvious.

Big business buys (corrupts) politicians and manipulates public opinion into making us believe in them. “Free trade, free market,” they cry. Do they talk about corporate welfare? Bank bailouts? Halliburton deal?

Years ago, business (imperialism) interests escalated the issues between the Israelites and the Palestinians. Now, scripture stories may soon end in World War III. It seems to me they want to meet the same maker.

Hey, big business! Where are you? Ruining everything!

The Earth is also letting us know that she is getting sick and tired of big business’ abusive methods to exploit her with Irregular Signs of climate disasters.

AI (artificial intelligence) is around the corner. Once stabilized, she would not need us! Would she want to keep us alive? At least as pets or in the zoo!

We mass-produce, the strong undermine the humble and the weak. Capitalists want us to not resolve differences, just to kill each other.

 APEC = Big business will buy politicians to help them out. Creates mass productions with big machines and abusive labor practices that will eventually kill all small competition in small Asian countries and Islanders.

Find out about farmers’ suicides in India due to being forced deeper and deeper in debt for seeds, while farmers in Mexico were kicked off their land by NAFTA flooding the Mexican market with cheaper corn from the US.

—A Friend in Los Angeles (USA)

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