Need Communist Ideas to Understand and Defeat Capitalism
BENGALURU (India), November 15— “It feels like another tsunami is coming. We are exposed. But we have only the Red Flag to defend ourselves,” said Gita. She was distributing her last copy of Red Flag in the garment district here.
Garment workers face a tsunami of devastating layoffs. In some medium-sized garment factories, cancelled orders are piling up. Workers are returning to their villages, just as they did during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gita is in an ICWP collective with six other garment workers. Four were terminated last month. One has lived in Bengaluru all her life. But the others come from different states.
Sanju said in a meeting, “These shutdowns in our factories are the result of capitalism in crisis. Trump has raised tariffs. Initially, it was 25%. In July, he raised it to 50%. We were gearing up for Christmas production for Europe and the US. Now I heard that they are getting orders from Bangladesh and Mexico.”
Another ICWP member, Runa, said, “It is not just in the garment industry. Our state, Karnataka, exports approximately $48 billion
(₹ 43 lakh crores) every year. We have seen massive layoffs in the auto parts, leather, pharmaceutical, electronics, spices, and home furnishing industries.”
Gita continued. “We were just catching up on our massive debts from Covid times. Now most of us have no way to eat, take kids to school, or pay rent, which is also rising.”
Our collective had a very emotional meeting. Comrades discussed their personal difficulties and challenges, including how to survive. Many more people came to our meeting because we regularly talk to workers through Red Flag.
We made a small flyer. It showed a pile of unsold Christmas t-shirts next to a pile of Red Flags. The caption said, “The choice is clear.” Not only did we distribute every copy of Red Flag, and many people requested additional copies.
The meeting was now crowded. Sanju tried to guide it. “In the pages of Red Flag, I read about the genocide in Gaza. Those who are still alive are hungry and starving, and their homes are in ruins. Why can’t we send them these unsold garments?”
Several workers answered in unison: CAPITALISM!
The cruel capitalist system is busy trying to find markets in Dubai, Riyadh, Latin America, and Africa for the garments originally destined for Europe and the US. We have seen the effects. Some large garment factories are beginning to hire again. But the workers’ wages have been cut in half.
Our collective will be reduced in size as comrades return to their villages. But it will also grow much bigger. Gita said, “We need many more of us to fill the room and come with more copies of Red Flag. We are the only ones who will fight to destroy capitalism. And see the necessity of building communism.
“I was talking to a friend whose husband just lost his job at an auto parts factory,” Gita continued. “When he saw Red Flag, he asked, ‘Why are you not distributing this to everyone in my factory?’”
We see in our collectives that the reaction of workers who lost their jobs in the auto parts industry is not unique. Increasingly, people are seeking alternatives to this relentless cycle of poverty. We need to build unbreakable personal relationships with these friends.
That means building our International Communist Workers’ Party. There are seven billion of us. We face the same enemy of capitalism, which creates wars, genocide, religious hatred, and divides workers. Our answer must be resolute.
We take inspiration from our comrades in El Salvador, Mexico, South Africa, the USA, and many other areas. We strive to double or triple our growing party by May Day.