âNo Kingsâ â No Capitalists! here ⊠Youth against fascism here ⊠Raising money with Red Flag here âŠ
âNo Kings?â â No Capitalists!
LOS ANGELES (USA), March 28â âI come here to see the communist signs,â said a young man at the âNo Kingsâ march here. And thatâs the contradiction. As a friend said, the massive protests across the US and around the world were âawesome but led by one wing of the US imperialists.â
The creativity, anger, solidarity, and sheer numbers of the protesters were impressively on display. But the political message was mainly one of âdefeat Trump, elect Democrats, work within the system.â
In a friendâs words, âThat is not a step forward for the working class and the oppressed.â A comrade replied to him: âIt was only useful for us as an opportunity to raise a communist line.â
Comrades and friends distributed over five hundred communist papers at three different rallies. Two were doing that for the first time. âPeople were receptive,â one said happily. That included unionized teachers and janitors. With more help and a bigger supply of papers, many more marchers would have gotten copies. Thousands saw our communist signs, and many took pictures.
One story among many: A guy wearing a âRevolution!â t-shirt was part of a small army paid (or volunteering) to collect signatures on petitions for ballot initiatives. He approached two resting comrades. âHow do those petitions advance the cause of revolution?â the more experienced comrade asked him. He didnât have an answer. But he was happy to talk and eager to hear our reasons why they donât. We gave him one of our last copies of Red Flag and he promised to read it.
The first-time distributor said she learned from that how to look for and sharpen the internal contradictions of people we approach. âA dialectical perspective is necessary,â another comrade explained. âThe boss-led movement allows us an opportunity to unite with angry masses.
Letter: Reflections on the Role of Youth Against Fascism
Fascism does not appear out of nowhere. It arises in times of crisis in the capitalist system, when the ruling classes attempt to maintain their power through repression, racism, extreme nationalism, and the destruction of workersâ organizations.
This is the ideal moment to rebel against exploitation, racism, authoritarianism, and this exploitative capitalist system. It is important to understand that fascism cannot be fought with indignation or reforms alone, but with organization, solidarity, and political clarity.
Young people have always played a decisive role in this struggle. At many moments in history, young people have been at the forefront of resistance. They have organized protests, spread ideas, defended solidarity, and confronted the hatred promoted by fascism. But at the same time, without a clear line of organized struggle like that of our International Communist Workersâ Party (ICWP).
Fascism advances when young people are disorganized. When we allow fear to replace our consciousness. When hatred divides us, the main objective of this rotten system against our class.
It is necessary to build organization, consciousness, and collective struggle. That is why ICWPâs political and organizational work takes on fundamental importance. We must fight harder to win more young people to join our party.
The energy, creativity, and rebelliousness of youth can become a powerful force when organized collectively. With class consciousness. And our communist political line.
The newspaper Red Flag is a tool for this struggle. It is the voice of the entire working class that fights against the oppressive system. That fights for a communist society. Spreading these ideas, organizing, mobilizing, and winning over more comrades is our task.
The ICWP calls on young workers and students not to fall into the traps of hatred and division. The real way out of the crisis of capitalism is not fascism, but the organized struggle of the working class for a society without exploitation.
âComrade in El Salvador
Letter: Using Red Flag to Help Raise the Money We Need
I distributed about fifty copies of Red Flag/Bandera Roja at the March 28 âNo Kingsâ protest in downtown Los Angeles. I was asking for a $1 donation and received $38 in donations. This also gave me an opportunity to have many good conversations with people. I usually distribute about one hundred copies at these protests, but I donât ask for a donation, and I donât have many conversations. Todayâs experience was significantly different.
I was not trying to profit, but rather building collective responsibility. Under capitalism, printing, distributing, and organizing all cost money. Pretending those costs donât exist doesnât challenge capitalism, but does weaken our ability to fight it. Asking for a dollar wasnât much, but when people contribute, even a small amount, theyâre not just receiving the paper, theyâre helping produce it. I would thank them for this and let them know they were contributing to its publication.
Several gave more than a dollar.
A free paper is more easily ignored, but paying âeven $1âbecomes something more likely to be read. Weâre building a movement and asking for a dollar shifts the relationship from passive consumption to active participation. It says: this is your party and it belongs to you too.
I grew up asking, but I was definitely out of this practice. At first, it was difficult to ask for a donation, but after people would stop and produce a dollar, even if it meant asking their partner or friend for a dollar, I knew I was doing something important.
Someone who took the paper without giving a donation asked, âWhy are you asking for a dollar, if youâre a communist and say youâre organizing for a world without money?â
I explained that we donât operate outside material reality and that while weâre organizing against capitalism, we still currently exist within it.
Consciousness grows through involvement, not passivity. Times are changing radically and people have become more radicalized politically. We can and should expect more from people we offer the paper to. That dollar isnât about buying a paper. Itâs about helping build the movement behind it.
âA communist in Los Angeles (USA)