New Pamphlet Proposal here ♦ Exposing Capitalism and Explaining Communism Go Together here ♦ Response to Pamphlet Proposal here ♦
Need Pamphlet about Communism
We have an excellent series of pamphlets, most recently the one about Gaza. However, there’s one obvious one missing, and it ought to be a priority.
We need a pamphlet about communism.
After all, the whole point of our existence is to establish communism worldwide. We owe it to our members and friends to define as far as possible what it is we’re fighting for.
Traditionally, political parties (including communist parties) publish programs listing all the changes they’ll make if they come to power. This is usually a list of reforms they will implement. For example, universal health insurance, or workplace safety laws.
We’re not reformists, so this is not for us. Instead, we need a detailed but accessible description of what communism will be, especially once remnants of capitalism are wiped out. Communism is what, in the end, will attract supporters, not just insight into, and opposition to, the horrors of capitalism.
Many articles in Red Flag/Bandera Roja (RFBR), and Mobilizing the Masses for Communism, explain the basics of communism: no money, no private property, no wage slavery, everyone working collectively for the common good. But for reasons of space these articles deal only with the basics.
Important topics get omitted, like how do we decide on allocation of resources, how will children be cared for, how will we live, what will healthcare be like, how will sexism and racism be fought, will there be ranks and grades and prizes, and many others. Of special importance will be articles about the difference between real communism and socialism, especially Soviet socialism.
We could produce this communism pamphlet in the same way we produced the Gaza pamphlet, by assembling RFBR articles. However, we need articles that are genuinely about communism, and don’t just describe the basics in passing.
Furthermore, these articles should just be about communism, and shouldn’t, for example, talk at length about Gaza. It seems that some of our comrades subscribe to a ‘stages’ theory that holds that our readers are not ready to learn about communism – too remote – and must pass through a stage of being horrified by Gaza. Also, they supposedly must be reminded how difficult it will be to establish communism.
An RFBR article once quoted a comrade about the people he met distributing RFBR:
“But the many people who took Red Flag were not interested in discussing capitalism. They wanted to talk about what we mean by communism and what a communist life would look like.”
Topics would include work (in communism), education, health and healthcare, housing, eliminating racism, sexism, and xenophobia, history of communism, music, literature, and many others.
These articles, most of which are to be written, should have a high priority.
—Comrade in Canada
Exposing Capitalism and Explaining Communism Go Hand in Hand
Every letter and every article shared in the Red Flag is of importance.
The stories shared around the world bring light to everyone on what is happening globally and the changes that need to be done.
The articles about Gaza have had an emotional impact on everyone. They show how far the bosses are willing to go to get what they want, no matter who suffers, gets hurt, or even killed in order to satisfy the capitalists’ needs.
The capitalist society is so evil that the only thing that matters to it is how much MONEY they can make in order to stay at the TOP. This system is very manipulative, corrupt, and cold hearted.
In communism it will be different. We have to state the differences and changes on how the communist society will be like.
In the capitalist society, all that is cared for is money. In education we have to pay, for better medication we have to pay, to survive you have to make money. Crime increases every day because “MONEY” is a need. Criminals walk freely because they have MONEY. The system favours all those who have money. “MONEY TALKS.”
The difference in communism is that we will be living in a society with no money. Everyone will be equal by having and gaining more masses in the party. The ideas and changes of how we want to live will differ. We all do not know when this will happen, but we do know how peaceful the world will be.
In terms of education, it will be totally different from the system we have now. Hospitals won’t be packed because we won’t be consuming poisonous food, which leads us to needing medication, and if you don’t get medication, you die. The funeral parlours are making money. Everything generates around money. Even at funeral parlours what they do if they get a body (unconscious) if you regain consciousness in their place of business, they literally kill you. “It’s business,” they say.
We have to write about how the communist society will be like. It’s the “when” that we can’t state because it depends on the number of masses who are with us. We cannot change or go forth in doing anything with a small number. We need masses. We are different from the political parties that always promise change in order to gain votes and later disappear. We are not going to change the world individually, but in masses. It’s a change for us all.
All letters, articles, challenges, and ideas are welcomed.
Aluta continua! Red salute!
—Comrade in South Africa
Suggested Communism Pamphlet: A Response
Thank you for your thoughtful letter and suggestion. I think that our manifesto, Mobilize the Masses for Communism, gives the broad, exciting outlines of what communism will be like, in contrast to capitalism and its state capitalist form, socialism. It shows communism will be a society of production and distribution for need, not profit, of comradely relations, not money, being the basis of work, planning, distribution and politics. It points to building communist collectives as the basis for all life and all decision making.
But, as your letter points out, we can and need to go much further. Your list of topics sounds good. I could add: How will the mass Red Army function (the same and different from the Chinese)? How will communist revolution be spread worldwide? What will transportation be like? How will we combine mental and manual labor in each field of endeavor?
It is important that Red Flag articles address these questions. Your letter helpfully reminds us of that.
We should struggle with ourselves and each other to discuss and write about these topics, especially as they relate to our work. It will make the paper even more powerful at this time of growing fascism and war.
Thank you for pointing out that we can’t concentrate solely on the growing horrors of capitalism, but on the fight for and vision of a communist world where the potential of the working class will at last be fully realized. Communism has to be the conscious goal of many millions.
But I don’t think we should write a new pamphlet which contains all aspects that we think about communism. I think it would be too long and cumbersome. Improving Red Flag to include more about how communist revolution and communist society will be organized, on the other hand, is doable and needed.
We don’t have it all figured out. The masses will learn in practice. We need to learn from the masses, including our friends. But based on studying history and on our own line and the masses’ collective experiences, we do have exciting glimpses and examples of what communist revolution and communist society will be like . We should lay out what we think collectively about these questions while also encouraging our friends and co-workers to give their opinions. We should put those ideas into practice and into discussion. Then these ideas will be improved as more and more people discuss them.
—A Comrade
Read Our Manifesto:
Mobilize the Masses for Communism here